


Felix Powers

by giventothewhite (FYWC)



Category: The Maccabees
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-04
Updated: 2013-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 18:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1097208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FYWC/pseuds/giventothewhite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story about friendship, brothers and adventures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Even though you might find a lot of Maccabees lyrics in this story and I tried to make some references to what we know about their youth, this is still fiction! I changed some facts, for example I made Orlando’s brother Matt older than him.

It was the summer in which Orlando, after all, finally did grow a bit.

What seemed like a good thing at first quickly turned out to be one of those awkward situations that his whole life was made of since he had turned six years old.  
His sudden growth spurt left him not only with an unfamiliarly taller body that was aching all over but also with trousers that were now too short for him, exposing his ankles in an unorthodox way. Orlando couldn’t help but feel stupid and overly exposed.  
When he lost his last primary tooth a week later, his only wish for the Tooth Fairy was to stop growing altogether.  
A wish that he would regret his whole life.

It wasn’t like he could simply buy new trousers.  
He was fourteen years old now. There was just no such thing as going shopping with your mum anymore, he’d learned while listening to the other boys at school.  
Going alone was no option either. The never ending amount of shops, clothing-sizes, styles, colours, annoying shop assistants, other customers who would stare at him and his earring… Those and other terrible things were definitely going to happen if he ever was to go shopping on his own.

And he couldn’t ask Matt.  
His older brother made a habit of either ignoring him or making fun out of his slightly naïve ways.  
After all, Matt was already seventeen. Seventeen. And he had loads of life experience. No wonder he didn’t want to spend time with his younger brother.  
The only time the brothers had ever really bonded was when the whole family had gone to Brighton for a weekend and Matt and the ten year old Orlando had gotten their ears pierced.

That’s why Orlando was still wearing the silver ring in his ear even though he had gotten a lot of weird looks for it.

"Why don’t you go with your friends?", his mother had asked him over the dinner table.  
Before Orlando even had the chance to reply, Matt had snorted and said, “His friends? I’m not sure how much help a bunch of crayons are when you want to pick out a pair of jeans…”  
"Matt!," his mother had exclaimed. But Matt was in his rebellious phase so there was only so little she could do apart from hoping that her other son would stay this reserved and well-behaved.

And Orlando wasn’t even mad at his brother. If there was one thing the Weeks boys had in common, it was that they were painfully honest and never lied.  
What sounds like a virtue first was a terrible burden for little Orlando.

It was also the summer in which Orlando did meet Felix, a boy that would roll up his own trousers with a big smile on his face just to make Orlando feel comfortable and happy.


	2. Chapter 1

"Do you miss home?"

Caught off guard, Orlando turned around. He didn’t expect anyone to be still awake when he got up at midnight to draw something because he couldn’t sleep. Again.  
And he certainly didn’t expect Felix to come to his room and casually lean against his doorframe like it was no big deal.

Orlando didn’t know what to say.  
He had only known Felix for two days. Felix was Matt’s friend and was allowed to come with the Weeks family on their annual trip to Brighton because Matt insisted so and Casper, their oldest brother, couldn’t accompany his family this year because he was studying in Manchester.  
From what Orlando could tell, Felix was pretty cool. He was only thirteen years old (younger than Orlando!) and still Matt would hang out with him. Felix was also smiling the whole time and made it no difficult for the Weeks family to adore the charismatic boy and take him with them on holiday.

But that didn’t explain why he was now walking over to the little desk Orlando was sitting at and started studying Orlando’s sketches.  
Suddenly Orlando got hit by the realisation that he was wearing the pyjamas his mother had gotten for him last Christmas.

Feeling uncomfortable and naked, Orlando folded his arms around his torso and hugged himself tightly. He had never been to a pyjama party and felt his privacy intruded.  
And Felix was only wearing briefs and no t-shirt. Of course he would do so, Orlando thought to himself, he is like super cool and mature. He would never wear as childish pj’s as Orlando did.  
In that moment Orlando wanted nothing more than to crawl into his bed and wait until his strange visitor would leave.  
But Felix was still standing next to him and smiling in a strangely comforting way at him.  
So slowly Orlando unfolded his arms and started re-arranging his crayons. He started with the biggest one, the orange one. To Orlando it looked like a weird thumb.

After he’d finished his task, Orlando picked up a the blue crayon and continued his sketch.  
Now being fully aware of the older boy’s calming presence, Orlando started to explain his little picture.

"This is a girl. She is in love. With a boy. She’s wearing a blue dress because blue is my favourite colour."

Orlando was so caught up in talking about his picture that he barely noticed that Felix was now sitting opposite of him.  
Orlando smiled contently to himself.  
His mother had stopped listening to him rant about his many paintings, sketches and illustrations long ago and no one else had ever bothered.  
And now there was another boy sitting in this room in Brighton with him and listened to him without looking bored or interrupting him.

"And then she said to her boy that she wants to marry him and look here, that’s why I drew rings and boxes. Because, you know the saying ‘let’s tick the boxes’? Because she doesn’t want to be alone. She wants somebody to always be there for her so that she is never alone. No one wants to be alone, I guess."

"Do you want to be alone?"

It was the second time Felix said something.  
Orlando looked up in surprise.

"No."

And Felix kept looking at him, like he was waiting for an explanation.  
Orlando took the black crayon and forcefully drew a ugly black line over his painting. And then another one.

"Nothing I ever do is perfect. I try so hard to make my family like me. And I know they love me. My mum loves me. My dad loves me, too. But they are never at home. They work all the time. To buy me and Matt all the things that we want. And to pay for our big house and my big room. I have a room of my own," Orlando said knowing that Felix shared his room with his two younger brothers.

"I am always just hoping that I’ll do. That I make them proud. That I make them feel rewarded for their hard work."  
Orlando paused.  
"But I will not do and nothing is perfect."  
Orlando drew another angry black line on the picture.  
"But I’ll have to make do. Somehow. I know it’s my mistake and my fau…"  
"It’s no mistake, Orlando. Don’t think like that. Your family loves you and your gift. Your parents are so proud of you, even Matt is. He talks about you a lot, you know. You are a lot alike. He just has a different way of dealing with his insecurities."  
Listening to Felix’s words made Orlando shift nervously.  
"I know, I know. I’m sorry for what I said. I feel ashamed that I told you this. I would take it back if I could."  
There was a silence between the boys. Orlando started to feel uncomfortable again.

"Stay with me tonight," he blurted out, revealing his longing after the older boy’s assuasive aura.  
"Okay," said Felix and hesitated. "…I’m just going to get a night shirt."

Felix quietly left the room and Orlando breathed out in relief that this boy seemed to understand him better than anyone else in this house.  
Leaving his destroyed picture on the table, Orlando went over to his bed to lie in it. He figured it would be less awkward this way.  
But before he did so, Orlando rearranged the bed linen and pillows so that Felix would feel comfortable in his bed.  
Orlando smiled to himself. His mother had brought his favourite linen to Brighton and now he could entice Felix with his leopard print. He even had a matching velvet duvet which was really soft.

A minute later Felix reappeared in Orlando’s room and went straight to his bed. Without any hesitation he lay in it.  
Even though both boys were skinny they couldn’t prevent their bodies from touching in the small bed. At first it was only their feet but as soon as Orlando eased into the touch Felix snuggled closer and tenderly placed an arm around Orlando’s upper body.

Felix, who was used to this kind of affection, because he often shared a bed when one of his brothers had a nightmare (or sometimes just because both he and Hugo enjoyed the warmth of another body in bed), fell asleep quickly whereas it took Orlando some time to drift away.  
But when he did he had the best sleep for a long time and he dreamt of a boy in blue.


	3. Chapter 2

People often thought of Orlando as a dreamer.

Maybe because he really liked to draw and spent most of his time trying to avoid talking to people.  
Maybe it was because he had those soft brown eyes, that would never meet your eye, and innocent facial features.  
Maybe it was because he looked quite at ease next to his obnoxious brother.

But Orlando wasn’t a dreamer. He was a worrier.  
That’s why he, when he woke up the next morning, instantly feared what aftermath his late night confessions would have for his young and fragile relationship with Felix.  
He wasn’t thinking about the perfect friendship the boys could have. His mind was playing all kinds of scenarios in which Felix would stop talking to him and ignore him like his big brother. Or maybe he would even make fun of his stupid childish behaviour.

That idea made Orlando cringe.  
In an instant he felt the strong arms wrap around him from behind and all his worries were blown away. He let out a sigh and snuggled closer to the warm body.  
Only seconds later he was fast asleep again.

When he woke up for the second time he could not only feel the strong arms around him but also someone’s eyes on him.  
He sleepily turned around, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.  
When their eyes finally met, Felix cracked a smile.

"Good morning, sleepy head! I think we should get out of bed sometime soon, breakfast is in five and we don’t want your mother worry about us, do we?"  
Orlando quickly had to glance at the alarm. Felix was right, it was already 9 o’clock! Usually he barely slept longer than 7 o’clock…  
Still sleepy, he stumbled out of bed and nearly fell down if it hadn’t been for Felix to grab Orlando’s left arm and prevent him from an unpleasant encounter with the floor.

"Thanks," Orlando mumbled and quickly made his way to the bathroom.  
There he sat on the toilet and tried to calm himself down. It took him over a minute to notice that he hadn’t brought any clothes with him.  
And he had thought that his awkwardness would finally stop with Felix… There was just no other option than going back to his room to pick some fresh clothes.

When Orlando entered his room there was no sign of Felix. He probably had gone back to his room to get dressed, Orlando thought to himself.  
Orlando picked out his favourite shirt, then hesitated, but eventually put on his trousers that were way too short for him. While he got dressed, he was whistling to himself.

"Lando, dear, are you coming?," he heard his mother call from the kitchen.  
Hearing no mean retort from Matt, Orlando knew it was going to be a good day. He jumped down the stairs to the kitchen and smiled to himself.

The first thing he noticed when he entered the small kitchen, was that Matt and Felix had swapped seats, leaving Orlando with no choice but to sit next to Felix who was smiling at him encouragingly.  
But before he could sit down, Orlando was pulled into a tight hug by his mother who pressed a kiss on his hair.

"Good Morning, honey! Did you sleep well? You look good!," his mother cooed. In this moment Orlando was reminded how much she loved him and that he had grown up in the bosom of his family.

"Hey, I want to hug my big boy, too!," his father said with a deep, easy laugh and embraced his son and wife in his arms. Orlando’s mother giggled when her husband pressed a kiss on her hair.

"Hey, I thought that I was your big boy!," Matt teased playfully and joined the big hug, trying to climb on his fathers back.

In that moment Orlando swore he could have died of happiness, especially when Felix got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Orlando’s body. It felt oddly familiar.

With eight strong arms wrapped around him, Orlando felt strong and protected by a wall of arms.

"Time for breakfast!," his mother called out after a couple of minutes of cuddling and hugging and with a laugh, everyone broke free of their group hug to sit down.

Breakfast had never tasted that good.

 

The last day in Brighton flew by and before Orlando could really realise, he was sitting on the backseat of the family car, pressed next to Felix, who was sitting in the middle between the two brothers.  
Not that he minded sitting that close to the boy.  
It was the certainty that as soon as they got back to London, Felix would disappear from Orlando’s life because of course he had much cooler friends and two brothers and would never waste another thought on Orlando’s pathetic attempts of maintaining a friendship.  
With that thought in mind, Orlando was determined to enjoy his last hours with Felix the best he could.

Felix seemed to know an endless number of games you could play on a car journey.

When they had to slow down because they were stuck in a traffic jam, Orlando was really happy. He usually hated traffic jams but this time it meant that he could spend more time with Felix.  
Orlando didn’t mean to fall asleep on Felix’s shoulder but it happened anyway. Felix then gently placed his head on Orlando’s head and that way they slept throughout the whole remainder of the car ride while Matt was listening to angry punk music on his new discman.

Orlando was awoken by a curl of Felix’s messy hair that was tickling his nose. It made him sneeze and woke Felix up.  
Shooting Felix an apologising glance Orlando sat up properly. But Felix just burst out into a laughter. Orlando’s mother turned around and gave the boys a curious look.

"Everything alright, you two snuggle buddies?," she asked them and made Orlando blush.

Felix just grinned.

Only a few minutes later they turned into the street where Felix was living with his family.  
Matt and his father stayed in the car while Orlando and his mother got out with Felix to accompany him to the door.  
Before they reached the entrance to the White Family property, Felix pulled Orlando to the side and pressed something into the younger boy’s hand.

It was a piece of paper with a telephone number scribbled on it.

"You can call me anytime you want, Lando!," said Felix in a surprisingly severe voice.

Orlando simply nodded, staring at the piece of paper. And smiled.

"Wait. You called me ‘Lando’ ?," Orlando suddenly recalled.

"Yeah, why not? It’s a cool name!"

"Don’t you think it’s…childish to still have a nickname?," Orlando asked shyly.

"No, not at all!," Felix replied. "You can call me ‘Fe’ if you want. My brothers do that all the time, I think it’s cute. If you give someone a special nickname you express that they mean something to you and that they belong to you."

"Oh. Okay. "

"Bye, Lando!," said Felix and pulled Orlando in a tight hug.

"Bye, Fe," said Orlando and suddenly, he didn’t feel half as sad as he did before.

He had faith in Felix and his mom and the ones who put up with him.  
He remembered the wall of arms around him.  
It was them who were his army.


	4. Chapter 3

It took Orlando five days to actually call Felix.

On the first day Orlando locked himself in his room and tried to turn his memories of the weekend into pieces of art. He sat there for hours trying to remember every little detail of Felix’s face or find the right colour for the feeling of being surrounded by his family.  
To his surprise, drawing didn’t satisfy him as much as it usually did. Normally he would feel content and worn out after long drawing sessions.  
This time his head was still spinning and thinking about what Felix would be up to right now or if Felix was thinking about him, too.  
He didn’t sleep well that night.

The second day started with Orlando hiding all his drawings from the previous day in the darkest corner of his room. A part of him wanted to destroy or burn them, like Matt did to his old tests, but the bigger part of Orlando wasn’t very fond of destroying his art.  
It was a piece of him. It would feel like destroying himself.  
So he tried to distract himself with other things that wouldn’t remind him of Felix.  
He went grocery shopping with his mother, played football alone in the small backyard, searched the house for his old walkman and cleaned the dishes. He really wanted to bake something, too, but his mother wasn’t in the mood after a long day at work.

Orlando considered meeting up with Mary, the nice girl that lived next to him. But talking to her was always so exhausting and boring.

In the evening Orlando was physically exhausted but his mind would always wander back to the boy with the curly hair and broad smile.

On the third day Orlando tried to become cool.  
It suddenly became obvious that no matter what had happened last weekend, Felix would only want to be friends with him if he was cool.  
So little Orlando took a deep breath and went to his older brother to ask him for advice.  
After having laughed for almost three minutes, Matt noticed that his brother was serious and decided to help him the best he could. He gave Orlando an old flannel shirt that he had stolen from their father. The blue and grey colours really matched Orlando’s eyes, his mother said later.

Orlando was tempted to ask his brother questions about Felix, like what he liked to do in his spare time and how they became friends and many questions more, but he knew that he could count himself lucky that his brother was helping him at all.  
Moreover, he didn’t want to make the appearance that he was trying to steal his brother’s best friend. Not that Matt would have been particularly mad about it because he had plenty of other cool friends.  
Maybe Matt had read Orlando’s curious mind because at some point he casually mentioned that he and Felix had a bit of a falling out since Felix wasn’t so keen on listening to Matt’s angry punk music and doing all kinds of rebellious stuff with him.

Orlando had to surpress a little smile.  
Still, he didn’t call Felix.

On the fourth day Orlando got up at 4:30 am because he was so ready to finally call Felix.  
He had already dialled Felix’s number when his mother found him in the living room. Thankfully she was too tired to ask her son what on earth he was doing with the telephone in the middle of the night, so she simply sent him back to bed where Orlando would stay for the rest of the day because he felt ashamed and betrayed by his actions.  
He didn’t even allow himself to draw to cope with his feelings.

On the fifth day – it was a friday and his parents were at work – Orlando wanted to call Felix but then he couldn’t find the piece of paper with Felix’s number on it anymore.

Orlando almost broke into tears, this couldn’t be happening.  
He considered throwing the telephone against the wall but that was rather a Matt thing to do and he didn’t want his parents to worry about him following his brother’s footsteps.  
Defeated and doleful he went back to his room to spend the day (and probably the next years) like the previous day: in his bed, buried in blankets and pillows.

If it hadn’t been for that little pink post-it that someone had stuck to his door together with Felix’s number.

'Don't forget to call that lovely friend of yours, Lando!'

Orlando was pretty sure it had been his mum who’d written that post-it.  
Gleefully and with his happiness restored, he ran back to the telephone and dialled the number. He waited nervously until someone picked up.

"Hello?", said an unfamiliar distorted voice.

Damn, Orlando had never thought about someone else picking up the phone. What should he say now? Orlando avoided talking to someone on the phone at all costs and had almost zero experience with calling someone. He occasionally got a call from his aunt on his birthdays though.

But before Orlando could respond, he could hear voices through the speaker again.

"Hugo! What did I say about you not being allowed to answer the phone? Go away now! I don’t care, play with Will. Shooo!  
Hello, this is Felix White. Who am I speaking with?”

Orlando let out a sigh of relief.

"Hi Fe. It’s me, Orlando."

"Lando! I thought you would never call! What took you so long? I was afraid you didn’t want to hang out with me anymore! Seriously I was so bored all the time!"

Orlando supposed that he could listen to Felix rant for hours but he knew that he had to say something at some point. That was the way telephoning worked.

"I know. I was bored, too. Sorry, I didn’t call. Do you… do you want to meet like…now maybe?", Orlando asked shyly.

"Yes, yes, I would love to! But wait. I’ve got to look after my brothers, they…Hugo! What are you still doing here? Are you eavesdropping on me? I told you to look after Will! Grrgh.  
Sorry, Lando, that was my brother Hugo… Here’s the thing, I’ve got to babysit my younger brothers during the holidays. Our parents figured I’m old enough to look after them so they don’t have to hire someone. I mean, Hugo is already eleven, he’s alright, but Will is only seven and he can be quite needy sometimes…”

"Oh. Okay. Then…"

"Hey, why don’t you visit us? My parents surely won’t mind and you can help me playing with my brothers. You can take the bus and I’ll pick you up!"

"I don’t know, my parents are at work…"

"C’mon, Lando! You can call your parents when you’re at mine! It’s not nice to first finally call me and then not to come over!"

Orlando had to smile at Felix’s stubbornness.

"Okay okay, I’m coming over. What bus do I have to take? Do you live far away?"

"No, I think it’s easy, wait a sec, Hugo, get me the map!"

 

It took Felix a while to explain Orlando how to use the bus to get to his place since Orlando wasn’t all that familiar with public transport. His mother always dropped him off at his school on her way to work.

Surprisingly it took Orlando only 15 minutes by bus to Felix’s place and he didn’t get lost a single time. Neither did he get mugged, attacked, raped nor did somebody come on to him. All of Orlando’s fears were uncalled-for.

Felix had waited for him at the bus stop. When he spotted Orlando, a big grin appeared on his face.  
Orlando really hoped he didn’t get those stupid red dots on his face he always got when he was nervous.

Felix pulled Orlano in a tight hug.

"You made it! Let’s hurry back, I left Will with Hugo. Last time I did that Hugo tried to teach Will how to smoke tea bags!"

"You can smoke tea bags?"

"Yeah, Hugo does sometimes but don’t tell my parents. It doesn’t matter anyway, c’mon!"

 

Together they walked the short way from the bus stop.

"So this is the White House", Felix said, trying to hold back his laughter.

Orlando didn’t get it. He confusedly blinked at Felix.

"The White House. You know? Like The White House. Where the president of the USA lives!"

"Oh right, I get it. You live in the white house, this is funny!"

Orlando couldn’t stop laughing. All the pressure fell from his shoulders now that he was finally united again with Felix who was still his easy-going and funny self, that made Orlando feel so at ease.


	5. Chapter 4

Despite its glamourous name, the White House was rather small.  
Orlando should have guessed that since he knew from Matt that Felix had to share his room with his brothers. But still the small house had still surprised him at first.  
So the house was small. And maybe a bit cluttered. There were toys everywhere.  
Orlando felt a long forgotten itch in his fingers to pick up the various toys and inspect them.

"Hugo! Will! We’re back! Come and say hi to Orlando!"

Promptly, a door opened and two boys entered the living-room.  
The first thing that struck Orlando about the brothers was the fact that they shared Felix’s intense blue eyes that could see straight into your soul.  
The older brother, Hugo, wore a sweatshirt with the hood covering his short hair. The way he grinned at Orlando made the guest feel a bit uncomfortable, but an insuring glance to Felix calmed him down.  
Orlando had never met someone who smoked tea bags (how and why does one smoke tea bags anyway) but Hugo just totally looked like someone who did.

Hugo’s hand rested on the shoulders of their youngest brother. While Felix and Hugo looked almost the same age, you could easily spot the age difference between Hugo and the youngest family member. Will’s hair had the same colour as his brothers’. It was more shiny though, Orlando noticed.

The three brothers were staring at him expectantly.

"Hi, I’m Orlando and your brother is really nice," he blurted out.

"FeFe said you’re really nice, too. Do you want to play the rainbow xixi with me?"

"He means his xylophone," Hugo said and giggled.

He was weird, Orlando decided.

"No, Will, I can’t play xixi with you now. I have a guest. Maybe Hugo wants to play?"

Hugo only grinned.

"Come, I’ll show you our room!," Felix said, tugging Orlando’s sleeve.

 

The room was slightly bigger than Orlando’s room but there was just so much more stuff in it.  
For example, Felix had a loft bed. A loft bed!  
Orlando had always wanted to have a loft bed but his mother thought it was too dangerous.  
Felix noticed Orlando’s stare.

"Yeah, that’s my bed. I sleep on top and Hugo at the bottom. But sometimes we’ll sleep together in his bed or Will comes to sleep with one of us. Mostly with me because Hugo is a sleepwalker! He does very weird things when he is sleepwalking… That one time while I was still fast asleep he climbed into my bunk and tried to… well let’s save that story for another time."

Even the walls weren’t as empty as those in Orlando’s room.  
Sometimes Orlando felt the urge to paint on his stupid white walls but he never even dared to ask his mother.

Over Will’s single bed was a Smurfs poster.  
Over the loft bed was a funny sentence written on the wall in yellow wallpaint.

"The sun is not yellow, it’s chicken"

"That doesn’t make sense," Orlando thought and frowned before he realised that he accidentally said that out loud.

"Yeah, I know. But it sounds cool."

Orlando was amazed. Felix did things because they sounded cool to him. Not because someone told him to or told him not to. He just did what we wanted. And not in that passive aggressive way like Matt did.

Felix entered the room and Orlando followed him, marvelling at the big Bob Dylan poster.  
Then he tripped over something and almost fell.

Thankfully he had been walking behind Felix so Orlando just bumped into the older boy, who stumbled forward but quickly caught his balance again.

"Oh my god, I’m so sorry it’s so messy here! I should have made Hugo and Will tidy up before you showed up. Argh, we’re just so used to the mess I didn’t think…"

"No, it’s okay. Look, it’s no pro-"

"…that it would bother you but I have just so little time, looking after my brothers, cleaning, cooking, playing with Will,…"

"You can cook?," Orlando asked surprisedly.

"What? Cooking? Yes, I can cook!," Felix said like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"Like actual food?," Orlando asked, still skeptical. He had to think of that one time Matt tried to heat up pizza in the microwave…with the plastic foil still on.

"Yeah sure. Are you hungry? It’s already 3 o’clock! Let’s cook something together!", Felix said enthusiastically.

 

So they went back to the living-room that was connected to a small kitchen.

"Hugo, we are going to cook! Do you want to help?," Felix called his brother who seemed to be playing with Will.

"Feeeeeee! Can I help, too?," Will asked.

"No, you are too young! Go play with your Lego or Xixi!," Felix said in a dictatorial voice.

Will skulked back into the living-room to pout in the corner. Orlando felt sorry for him, he knew what it was like to be left out by his brothers but he didn’t want to leave Felix for a second.

Felix already had made his mind up to make pasta with tomato sauce.  
Orlando couldn’t really help so he just stood by the side and watched the brothers work in perfect union. In the small kitchen it almost seemed like they were working as one.  
Hugo was preparing a salad and Orlando really enjoyed watching his fingers chop the vegetables in an almost elegant way.  
He was definitely impressed.

The boys had almost forgotten Will.

"Feeeeeeee, I need your help! I can’t finish my Lego robot without you!," Will cried.

"Oh no, Will, I can’t help you now! Or the food will burn… Lando, could you maybe help Will? He doesn’t really need help, he just wants attention, for god’s sake!," Felix said looking at him with his big blue eyes.

At this moment Orlando was way too overstrained by the sensation of Felix’s eyes and the excitement he felt hearing Felix swear. It sounded…attractive. Like one of those movie heroes.  
So Orlando went over to little Will who was surrounded by Lego and held something in his hand that definitely didn’t look like a robot.

"Fe was right. You are very nice, Orlando. Can I say Lando, too?," Will asked.

"Are you chewing a lego brick?," Orlando asked, a bit freaked out.

"Yeah," answered Will and continued to chew on a lego brick. "It is okay, Fe and Hu do that, too."

"If you say so…"

Suddenly Orlando was overcome by a strong urge to build a castle. A Lego Castle.  
He had to grow up without Lego because his mother was always afraid that he would swallow a brick. Of course she never admitted that, she just said that Lego limited Orlando’s fantasy and that he should stick to crayons.  
That’s basically the same reason why Orlando never learnt how to ride a bike.

Building a castle and a robot turned out to be way more difficult than Orlando had imagined because it seemed like the boys had chewed a lot of those Lego pieces because many of them didn’t fit together anymore.

20 minutes later Felix called them because the food was ready and Hugo had already set the table.  
There was a bottle of Coca Cola on the table.  
Hugo poured some in Felix’s glass and some in his glass until the bottle was empty. When he saw Orlando’s disappointed look, he said, “No Coca Cola for Orlando today…”  
Hugo grinned but his older brother wasn’t so pleased with his amusement.

"Hugo, get another bottle!," Felix commanded his brother and pointed Orlando to sit on his left side.  
On Felix’s right side sat Will.  
Felix had to cut the spaghetti for him before he could start eating his own meal. Orlando admired how well Felix took care of his brothers. Maybe he even felt a little jealous but he didn’t know why.

While they were eating the pasta (which tasted delicious by the way), Orlando noticed that all three White Brothers were left-handed.  
Orlando was right-handed and never in his life felt so uncomfortable about it.

But then Felix’s elbow would accidentally touch Orlando’s elbow because Felix was holding his fork with his left hand and Orlando was suddenly pretty glad that he was right-handed.

Over the sound of Hugo slurping his spaghetti Orlando smiled.  
He definitely felt at home at the White House.


	6. Chapter 5

Felix and Orlando had agreed on meeting again on Monday because on Saturday, the whole White Family would go on a trip to Disneyland over the weekend.  
Of course they’d have taken Orlando, too, but with three sons there was just no space for another boy in their car. Desperately, Orlando had tried to convince his parents to take him (and maybe Matt, but Matt rather wanted to go to one of those loud music festivals where you get all dirty and have to deal with really drunk and impolite people).  
But as much as Orlando loved his mum, he was pretty disappointed when she crushed all his hopes and dreams by saying no to Disneyland.  
And Orlando’s dad wasn’t much help either. He asked Orlando to come to church with him on Sunday but Orlando quickly declined. From experience, Orlando knew that those services would be endless and boring. Even more boring than school! Besides, the pastor always talked about weird things that Orlando didn’t understand.  
Heaven and Hell and God and the Devil. Orlando didn’t really believe in that kind of stories. They had never really affected his life. He rather believed in his family and friends. In Felix.

Felix. Felix, who’d now be having a lot of fun with his brothers and would totally forget about Orlando just because Orlando’s mum didn’t fancy queuing.  
For the first time in a very long time, Orlando felt something similar to what he guessed Matt must feel when he was listening to his angry punk music. It was probably anger.

But in the end, Orlando had no other choice than staying at home and being bored out of his mind.  
In order to kill some time, he reflected on what happened after they’d had dinner (made by Felix and Hugo themselves!!!) on Friday. It had been a pretty good dinner but it was the White House after all. The food was supposed to be good.  
After Orlando had helped Felix clean the dishes – Hugo was too lazy for that and Will would often accidentally drop some – they’d gone back to the brothers’ room and Felix had shown Orlando his collection of old records. His favourite was the White Album by a band called The Beatles, Orlando remembered.  
Felix’s eyes would glow when he talked about music so Orlando guessed it was something that he was very passionate about. But in a different way than Matt, who would rarely take off his headphones.  
Felix and Matt hadn’t talked since they’d come back from their Brighton trip which made Orlando all happy inside.

He would totally survive the weekend.

In the end, Monday arrived quicker than Orlando had expected. Before he knew it, he got off the bus at the station in front of the White House and found Felix, Hugo and Will waiting for him.  
Will was waving his Lego roboter at him enthusiastically, Hugo took off his hood and Felix grinned at him fondly.  
Suddenly, Orlando got the same feeling he always got when returning home after holidays and smelling the familiar scent of home.

Then Hugo leaned to his right side, balancing on one foot. Maybe he’d have lost his balance and fallen if Felix hadn’t grabbed him by the shirt and made his brother stand up straight.

Orlando smiled.  
Yes, it definitely felt like coming home.

After Orlando got hugged by the three brothers, who all smelled like the same shampoo, they went back to the White House.  
Felix stopped Orlando in the doorway.

“Wait, don’t take off your shoes. I’m just going to get the food I prepared and we’ll go to a playground. Will is going to meet a friend there. We can hang out there! You don’t mind, do you?,” Felix explained.

Of course Orlando didn’t mind. But Matt had never gone to a playground with him when he was younger.

“Okay, then let’s go! Hugo, stop sucking on your sleeve!”

Together the four boys made their way to the playground which was, according to Felix, just 10 minutes away. According to Will, it was a million miles away. Orlando didn’t care, he was just happy to have his Felix back.

They arrived at a big crossroad.

“Will, stop!,” Felix yelled. “You are not allowed to cross the road on your own! C’mere and hold my hand!”

“Feeeee! I’m old enough to cross the road on my own! Look, Hugo doesn’t have to hold your hand!,” Will pouted. He hated always being the little baby.

“Oh. Of course he has to hold my hand, too! Hugo, hold my hand. And Lando, too!,” Felix responded and Orlando quickly grabbed Felix’s left hand before both Felix’s hands were occupied by his brothers hands.  
Their fingers entwined in a beautiful way and Orlando felt the strange urge to draw hands.  
Finally, Will gave in and took Felix’s right hand leaving Hugo no other choice but to take Will’s other hand. Hugo smiled and patted Will’s head.  
Hugo was soooo weird.

“Now boys, look left and look right. And cross the road, but hold my hand!,” Felix instructed them.

Orlando felt more like he was holding on to Felix instead of simply holding his hand.  
Together they crossed the road.

After crossing a few more roads, still holding hands, Will got impatient and started complaining.

“Are we there yet, Fe?”

“Will, can you see the playground? No? Then we’re not there yet,” Felix answered annoyed, but patiently. Orlando had the feeling it wasn’t the first time that the oldest White brother was asked a question like this.  
Will was quiet for a good thirty seconds.

“Feeee? Are we there yet?!”

“No, Will. We are not there yet. We have to walk for another five minutes.”

“But I want to be there now!”

“I know. But screaming ‘Are we there yet’ won’t get you there any faster!”

Felix was right, Orlando realised.  
So did Will, because he stopped asking.

When they crossed another road together, Will found a dead squirrel that was apparently run over by a car. He immediately started crying.  
Orlando looked at the dead body and thought of the squirrel’s family that was probably very sad now. Or maybe they didn’t even know that their family member had died such a tragic way. Orlando didn’t know which was worse and he suddenly felt a tear running down his cheek.  
At first Orlando was embarrassed by his childish behavior, but then he glanced sideways and saw that Hugo was hugging the quietly sobbing Will with wet eyes himself.  
Felix, who had let go of Will’s hand, but was still holding Orlando’s, gently wiped the tear from Orlando’s cheek. While he did so, Orlando stared down at his feet because he felt like his face was burning up. Maybe from the salty tear or Felix’s loving touch.  
But when he looked up he saw that Felix was softly looking at him with wet eyes. He wasn’t crying, of course not, but he just looked so sad that Orlando had to hug his older friend.  
“Don’t cry, Orlando, please, I can’t stand seeing you cry…”, Felix mumbled into Orlando’s short hair.

Orlando could feel Felix’s breath tickle on his ears and neck. His face got even hotter.  
And as much as he enjoyed being this close to Felix, he had to pull away before he started crying for real. He just felt like crying. Not because of the dead squirrel but of his new friend that was almost crying because of him.  
And then they would both cry and their tears would never end and flood the whole street and everyone had to swim if they wanted to leave their house and Orlando wasn’t really fond of swimming.

When Orlando had pulled away and given Felix a small smile to insure him that he was okay, Felix straightened up and took Will’s hand again.

“Okay, let’s say goodbye and cross the road, okay? The playground is waiting.”

There wasn’t a dry eye when they crossed the road and Orlando desperately held on to Felix’s hand.


	7. Chapter 6

"I’m going to the zoo tomorrow. With Felix.", Orlando announced over the dinner table.  
Mrs. Weeks looked up in surprise.  
"The zoo?", she asked.  
"Yes, the zoo. You know, with animals and stuff.", Orlando explained to his mother.  
"I know what a zoo is, my dear, I just didn’t think that you.."  
"A zoo is a prison for animals! They are captives! Zoos are cruel! We have to free the poor animals, the human race is disgusting, we can’t…"  
"Matt!", Mr. Weeks finally interfered. "Calm down, boy. I’m sure there is a reason why Orlando wants to go to the zoo with that friend of his. Tell me, Orlando, why do you want to go to the zoo?"  
With his three family members staring expectantly at him, Orlando wasn’t so sure anymore.  
"I don’t know. Felix asked me if I wanted to come… It sounded nice. He has to bring his brothers, too!"  
"Such a sweet young lad… I wish Matt and Casper would have been a little more like him.", Mrs. Weeks sighed.  
Orlando felt uncomfortable. He didn’t like where this topic was heading.

"Felix said we could take the train at 10 o’clock in the morning and be back before it gets dark. Please mum, can I go?", Orlando pleaded and subconsciously did the puppy look that always worked oh so well with his brown eyes.

"Alright my dear, of course you can go with Felix. But don’t you think you spend way too much time with him already? Doesn’t he get…bor- uhm. Well, Margaret is coming over tomorrow and she is bringing Mary with her. I thought this would be a brilliant opportunity for you two to finally spend some time together again. You used to get along so well! Margaret always talked about a wedding in spring and at least four little children and they would have…”, gushed Mrs. Weeks and Orlando started shifting nervously in his chair.  
His mum was right though, he had spent every day during the last week at the White House.

“I don’t want to marry a girl!”, he stated and suddenly all eyes were on him.

“I mean, I don’t want to marry now. I want to go to the zoo.”

Mrs. Weeks cleared her throat.

“Ok, Orlando you can go to the zoo. But be back before it gets dark outside, you know how easily you get scared in the dark. And next Sunday, when Margaret and Mary visit us again, you are going to spend the day with Mary. Is that understood, young man?”  
Orlando nodded and quickly finished his dinner.

 

When Orlando got off the bus the next morning he was surprised that Felix wasn’t waiting at the station to pick him up.  
Even though Orlando knew the way to the White House perfectly he couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed. It was kinda their thing, Felix always picking him up, often accompanied by at least one brother, and welcoming him with a warm hug.  
Orlando had no choice but to walk to the White House on his own.  
His mind started to play tricks on him.  
What if he had gotten the time wrong? Or the date?  
What if Felix left without him?  
And even worse:  
What if Felix had forgotten him?

Orlando arrived at the White House to find the front door open.  
“Fe?”, he called out shyly. Was he allowed to enter?

“Lando? Thank god you’re here!”, Felix suddenly appeared in the hallway. His breathing was sped up and his hair looked even messier than usually. Orlando felt an unfamiliar itching in his fingers to run his hands through Felix’s wild mane.  
Orlando didn’t have the chance to think any longer about Felix’s hair as he was pulled into a tight hug by his friend.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t pick you up but Will is a bit difficult today. Normally we go to the zoo by bike and he just has gotten Hugo’s old bike and now he desperately wants to go by bike. I told him that he you don’t own a bike and that we have to take the train instead but he just won’t listen!”, Felix sighed but Orlando was (again) too distracted by Felix’s hand running smoothly through his messy curls.

“It’s all just because we all didn’t get much sleep last night. Hugo imagined a monster in the cupboard and of course Will believed him. Hugo always sees things that are not really there, I don’t know what is going on in his head. And Will always believes him. Well basically Will just wants attention. Usually he calms down when I let him sleep in my bed but last night that didn’t work because my bed is right next to the cupboard and the monster and yeah. And now I have started to rant, just like you always do when you’re nervous.”, Felix grinned and tipped Orlando’s nose.

“I don’t…rant.”, Orlando pouted.

“Oh yes, you do! But you’re really cute when you rant. Just as cute as you are when you pout. Like now.”  
Orlando blushed.  
Damn Felix and his natural flirty and charming ways.

“Let’s go before we miss the train! Hugo! Will! Let’s go!”, Felix called out for his younger brothers.  
Hugo and Will appeared and they looked terrible.  
Both had red rimmed eyes and dark circles around their eyes. While this was Hugo’s usual look it was rather unfamiliar on Will’s childish face.

Orlando couldn’t help but hug the little boy while Felix slapped Hugo’s bottom to cheer him up.  
Orlando could never quite grasp the closeness between these two brothers.  
Felix notices Orlando’s uncomfortable stare.

“Alrighty boys, let’s go!”

The train journey was surprisingly pleasant. Orlando stared out of the window while he was pressed against Felix.  
There were only three empty seats but somehow they all managed to squeeze in there. Even though it meant that Felix had to put his arms around Orlando’s and Will’s shoulders. 

They had to change trains at some point but Felix led the little group and Orlando was pretty content.

 

The four boys arrived at the zoo 45 minutes later and Felix bought tickets for all of them. Orlando was glad that Felix was so responsible for all this important stuff even though he was technically the oldest of the four boys.  
As soon as they entered the zoo they White brothers were acting like different persons.  
They were laughing and smiling and jumping and imitating animals and just acting super happy. Orlando tried to fit in by making awkward jokes and this one time he even allowed himself to ruffle Felix hair because the brothers were just constantly touching each other.

“Let’s go see the penguins first!”, Will exclaimed.

“No, we always go to the penguins first, Will! I want to see the alpacas!”, Hugo said stubbornly.

“Why don’t we let Lando decide?”, Felix suggested, smiling encouragingly at Orlando.

“Uhm, I would like to see the lions…”

“Lions it is!”, Felix decided. “Let’s go!”

They arrived at the lion’s compound. Apparently they had just gotten fed. There was a lot of dead meat lying around.  
Orlando kind of regretted wanting to go to the lions because every time he sees dead flesh he feels a bit sick.   
Of course Felix noticed that Orlando wasn’t feeling very well.

“Are you alright, Lando?”, he asked concerned.

“Yeah. I don’t know. Flesh is flesh, you know. Like my flesh is the same as the flesh of animals. But sometimes the dead flesh is food for other animals, you know? Flesh is flesh and until the blood runs cold and then other animals eat it. Sometimes animals even eat their family members, Felix! Family is important, Felix! Blood is blood! Or at least that’s how I am told.”

“Shhh, Orlando, you are thinking too much! Just look there are some baby lions playing!”, Felix tried to distract Orlando from his stressing thoughts.

“Aww how cute!”

Felix and Orlando were so distracted by the playing kittens that they didn’t notice that Will and Hugo were whispering to each other and then proceeded to sneak up to them.  
With a loud “grrrrrgh” Will and Hugo jumped their older brother so that they all tumbled to the ground. Luckily they landed on the soft grass.  
Within seconds the three brothers turned into a tumbling ball of limbs and wild hair.  
To Orlando the young boys looked exactly like the young lions with their wild manes and playful fighting.

“Hugo! Did you just bit me?”

“Arrrgh, stop pulling my hair, Will!”

“Stop grabbing my butt, Hugo!”

“Ough! I’ll never be able to have kids now!”

“Is that a tongue???”

“Feeeeee! Stop tickling me! It’s not faiiiir! Ehehehe!”

After five minutes of rolling around in the grass the ball of limbs dissolved into the three brothers again who were all panting now. Felix and Hugo were sweating. Will was laughing.

“Hhhhhhh. Sometimes I need to teach them who is the mama lion. Now boys, who wants ice cream?”, said Felix.  
Of course everyone wanted ice cream.

Deeply satisfied with his chocolate ice-cream Orlando observed the other visitors who casually passed by his bench.  
When a tour guide and a big group of adults passed by, Orlando nudged Felix’s side.

“Isn’t it bizarre that these adults still play follow the leader?”

“Sorry, what?”, Felix asked confused.

“Nothing.”

“Hm. Can I try your ice cream?”

“Of course, Fe.”, said Orlando.

Felix then tentatively stuck out his tongue and quickly licked at Orlando’s ice-cream.  
Then glanced at Orlando. And then licked again.  
Laughing loudly Orlando pulled his cone away.

“Stop Feehee!”, he giggled.  
Orlando was used to people always trying to steal his ice cream. Matt always scoffed his own ice cream before he tried to slurp away Orlando’s too.  
But with Felix being this cheeky Orlando had no problem with sharing his ice-cream.

The rest of the day was quite eventful as well.  
They saw a monkey with several broken bones.

“Oh no, poor thing! His body can’t break! Be strong little monkey!”

They saw two ostriches mating in front of everyone and Felix had to explain the situation to Will while Orlando turned terribly red in the face and Hugo took a picture of the animals.

“Uhm, they are making another body, Will. Soon there will be another ostrich!”

“Cool, does that work with food, too? If I put one chocolate bar on another chocolate bar and then rock them back and fo…”

“No Will, this doesn’t work! Now, c’mon guys we still have to see the elephants!”

 

Unfortunately one elephant had just passed away and all the other elephants were very sad because they were all a big family.  
At least that’s what the zookeeper Vince told them.  
Orlando liked Vince even though he looked a bit too fabulous for a zookeeper. He almost looked like a rockstar.

“What happens when an elephant dies?”, Orlando asked Vince, the zookeeper.

“It makes a new star. Well its carbon. Just like yours. Your carbon makes a star! And after all that’s all we are! We are all stars! Want some glitter, boy?”, Vince exclaimed and clicked his his shiny boots.

Orlando wasn’t really sure it was true what Vince was telling him or if he should believe the sparkly man.

“Fuck, it’s late! We’ve missed our train! Land, Will, Hugo, hurry up we have to catch the last train home!”, Felix noticed suddenly and was suddenly quite nervous and not his usual laid-back self.

Hugo said goodbye to Vince but Orlando stayed close to Felix because he didn’t want to be the last to leave.


	8. Chapter 7

Of course they had missed the train. And not just because they’d had to wait for Hugo who was given a lollipop by the weird zookeeper.

When the next train arrived, it was crowded and smelly. It reminded Orlando of why he hated public transport. The angry looks he shot the crying baby wouldn’t make it stop. And Felix, ever the gentleman, had to offer their seats to an elderly couple.  
Orlando sighed when they finally got off the train but then he remembered that they weren’t home yet since they had to change trains.  
And now it was getting dark. And cold.  
Orlando felt like crying. The day had started so wonderful.  
It didn’t make it any better that there was absolutely no one else waiting at the station. Orlando wanted to hold Felix’s hand so badly.  
Suddenly the boys heard a voice coming through the speakers:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention for a moment? Due to technical difficulties, the service is suspended for now but shall be resumed in a few minutes. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the service running late. The service will be running smooth again soon! Thank you."

"Fuck!," Felix exclaimed.  
Orlando was so scared that he didn’t even notice Felix swearing in front of his little brothers.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!," Felix continued, earning worried looks from little Will.

That’s it, Orlando thought, we’re all going to die.  
Orlando’s head had already started to think of hundreds of possible ways for them to die. Would they freeze to death? Or starve? Or maybe some wild animals would come and eat them…

"Lando! Orlando! Are you even listening to me?!" Felix started to shake Orlando’s shoulders to get his attention.

"W-w-what?," Orlando stuttered, still in a shock.

"Oh no, not you too! Are you scared of the dark, too? Will is."

Only now Orlando noticed that Will had tried to hide under Hugo’s hoodie.

"No worries, boys. I have an idea. Can someone give me some pennies? I’ll call our parents!"

When Felix left them to use the callbox, Orlando felt the loneliest he had ever felt in his life. He was so thankful that Hugo pulled him into his strong arms where Will was already hiding.  
After two minutes Felix came back.

"Ok, I spoke to mum. Lando, you are going to sleep at ours. My mum called your mum so that she won’t worry. No problem. It’s the easiest way. Your parents won’t have to pick you up at ours this late and I’d hate to leave you alone tonight. Everything is alright now. We just have to wait for the train."   
Felix joined the group hug, somehow trying to keep them all warm. This way they waited for five long minutes until Will suddenly started to whisper:

"Fe? I think the cupboard monster followed us here."

Felix sighed.

"Fe? I’m scared."

"Will, you don’t have to be scared. Look, Hugo and Lando aren’t scared either," Felix tried to calm down his youngest brother, who was shivering with fear and cold.  
Suddenly Orlando felt cold and lonely, too. He hated this feeling of mistrust that was slowly creeping up inside of him. Orlando blamed the monster in the cupboard that made him feel scared.

"Will, don’t think of the monster. Think of your bed. And home. Come on, let’s play ‘spot the train’! Who spots the train first is the winner!"

If Orlando hadn’t been so scared himself, he would have found Felix’s caring behaviour really sweet.

"Spot the train and stop the monster!," Hugo repeated.

"Fe? I wish we would have gone by bike…"

"Shhhh, Will. If we had gone by bike, we would have had only a few hours in the zoo! Besides, you know that Lando doesn’t have a bicycle!"  
Orlando was so glad Felix kept saying that Orlando didn’t own a bicycle and not that he never learned to ride one because Orlando felt a bit ashamed about this fact. He was also very annoyed that everyone was buying bicycles and he wasn’t.

"Can we buy one for him then?"

"No Will, we can’t buy a bicycle for Orlando. He has to ask his mum."

That was actually quite a good idea since it was Orlando’s birthday in just a week. And with 14 years Orlando was definitely old enough for a bike.

"The train! Look! The train is arriving! I spotted the train first!," Will started to shout, waking up Hugo, who had fallen asleep on Will’s head.

They got on the almost empty train and continued their journey home. During the ride Orlando stared through the window at the empty-looking city.  
Somehow Hugo and Will got over their tired state and started making up a song about bicycles. Yeah, why not.  
Unfortunately there was an elderly couple sitting next to them who were constantly shooting them trifle shifty looks that weren’t about to change. Orlando guessed it was because no one likes what they are not and he felt a little bit strange and rebellious. He wondered if Matt felt like this all the time.  
But it was a good feeling so Orlando decided to join the singing White brothers.

"Not the bus!"  
"Bicycles!"  
"Not the train!"  
"Bicycles!"  
"Bicycles, bicycles, bicycles!"

Orlando started to think of his bed and felt a warm, fuzzy feeling spreading inside of him. But then he remembered…

"Fe? is it really okay if I sleep at your place?," he asked shyly.

"Yeah, of course it is, Lando! I told you already, it’s the best idea I had in a while! And your parents don’t have to pick you up. My bed is awesome! This is the shortest way to paradise!"


	9. Chapter 8

When their train finally arrived at the station near the White House, Mr and Mrs White were already waiting to pick them up.

The worried parents embraced their sons tightly, happy to have them back unscathed. Orlando felt a little bit left out until Mrs White grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into the group hug, too. Suddenly Orlando was squeezed between the loving mother, Felix, and Hugo. He could smell Mrs White’s hair and it smelled like Felix but most importantly it also smelled like home.

“Come on, my big boys, let’s get you into bed!,” Mr White said and they went to the waiting car. There wasn’t enough space for four boys so Will had to snuggle up in his mother’s lap while the other three boys sat in the back of the car.

Suddenly Orlando felt really tired.

After a short ten-minute drive they arrived at the White House. Mrs White smiled because Will had fallen asleep in her lap and wouldn’t wake up anymore so Mr White had to carry him into his bed.

Hugo had almost drifted off to sleep too, but managed to keep himself awake by sucking on the cord of his hoodie. Felix smiled lovingly at his brother and then at Orlando. As his mother was unlocking the door and his father carried the sleeping Will inside, Felix took both Hugo’s and Orlando’s hands and led them inside.

He was glad that nothing bad had happened and that they were at home now with their beds waiting for them, even though he had never expected their first sleepover to be like this. But then he remembered:

“Mum? Where should Lando sleep? It always takes aaages to blow up the stupid lilo!,” he asked his mother, who was gently tucking Will in while Orlando just stood in the dark room, unsure of what to do or what to say.

“I thought that was obvious? Hugo will sleep in your bed and then your guest can sleep in Hugo’s bed? And you will have to lend him some pyjamas, will you?,” his mother explained in a quiet voice to not wake up Will again. As if.

Of course Felix had thought of this. But maybe deep, deep in his mind he had secretly hoped that his mother would suggest that he and Orlando would share a bed. He loved sleeping in one bed with his brothers, of course, but he also felt a strong urge to keep Orlando close and protect him during the night after all that had happened today.

Felix considered his mother’s words and came to the conclusion that she was right, just like mums always are. After all this was their first night together, it was probably hard enough for Orlando to sleep in an unfamiliar bed. Felix knew how reserved Orlando was when it came to body contact and sleeping in the same bed with your new friend on the first night would probably be really hard for him.

So Felix decided to follow his mother’s idea.

He went to his wardrobe and motioned Orlando to come over, too.

“Here, you wear this! This is my comfiest PJ!,” he smiled at his friend and Orlando stroked the soft velvet fabric.

Suddenly they heard a quiet ruffle coming from Felix’s bed.

“Feeee, I’m cold! Come to bed …,” Hugo yawned.

Felix quickly took off his clothes and climbed, only in his boxers, into his bed next to Hugo. Hugo automatically spooned around his big brother and sighed happily.

The image of Felix only in his boxers suddenly reminded Orlando of the night that they first met.

In Brighton, when Orlando couldn’t sleep and Felix had stayed up with him to listen to him talking about his painting.

They had shared a bed back then. Orlando was a little bit disappointed that this time it was Hugo who got to sleep in one bed with Felix. Then he mentally slapped himself at thinking stuff like this. They were brothers, of course they would sleep in one bed.

“Why are you still standing there, Land? Get changed and go to bed …,” Felix suddenly murmured and Orlando noticed that Felix had observed him the whole time while he was standing next to the wardrobe and clutching the pyjama to his chest.

Orlando was unsure of what to do. He couldn’t just take off his trousers while Felix was watching him. He just couldn’t! Even though Felix had done just the same a couple moments ago.

“C’mon Land …,” Felix murmured again over the sound of Hugo’s even breathing.

But little Orlando was still frozen. Should he turn around? Felix was clearly still watching him. Orlando hated himself for being … like this. It was totally normal for boys to change in front of each other.

He gathered all his courage and pushed down his trousers, carefully minding not to push his boxers down as well. Orlando quickly slipped into the pyjama trousers that were indeed very soft and felt good on his skin. For a tiny moment Orlando’s insides began to tingle at the thought of wearing something that was so precious and most importantly Felix’s.

The rush of joy and warmth inside of him made it suddenly very easy for Orlando to strip off his jacket and t-shirt as well. Why had he been nervous anyway? He was at Felix’s. The most secure and comfortable place in the world. There wasn’t a thing he had to worry about when he was with this boy.

Felix smiled to himself when he saw Orlando visibly relaxing and changing into the pjs.

He heard the ladder squeak when Orlando climbed into the top bunk bed above him and Hugo. Only after he listened to Orlando’s breathing become even and the body shifting in the bed above him Felix was able to fall asleep as well.

Orlando woke up in the middle of the night. It wasn’t unusual for him to wake up or have problems falling asleep in the first place. If he hadn’t been so exhausted by their adventurous day he probably wouldn’t have found sleep at all in this unfamiliar bed that smelled like Hugo.

Orlando shifted around in the bed for a while but was unable to go back to sleep.

He turned over for one last time before he sighed and gave up. He carefully turned on the lamplight to see something in the dark room.

Will was still fast asleep in his bed and from the sounds of low breathing from under him Orlando guessed that Felix and Hugo were, too.

Maybe if he saw Felix’s calm face he would be able to fall asleep again. Trying to be quiet, Orlando climbed down the ladder to look at Felix.

Felix was indeed sleeping deeply and had cuddled even closer to Hugo. Cheek to cheek the brothers were lying next to each other.

It was such a beautiful picture that made Orlando mourn that he didn’t have his pencils and crayons with him. Their cheeks were paler than the lamplight and Orlando desperately wanted to stroke Felix’s cheek. His face looked so peaceful in his sleep.

Orlando took a step back before he couldn’t keep himself from doing something stupid like stroking Felix’s cheek anymore.

As he did so he stumbled over something on the floor and mentally cursed the White brothers for their permanently messy room. It was Will’s super scalextric that was still set up. Orlando remembered promising Will to play with him. They’d never found the time though.

Still it was cute that Will had set up the slot car racing track anyway.

Orlando wished that someone would turn this darkness into light so that he could see something and not stumble over the whole interior and wake up the sleeping brothers while doing so.

He looked back at Felix and Hugo but they were still peacefully cuddled up to each other with no space between them. They were even lying toe to toe with their feet tangled.

Orlando sighed; he didn’t want to go back to his bed alone. He tiptoed around the room, unsure of what to do.

All he wanted was to crawl into bed with Felix and Hugo but he lacked both heart and courage to do so.

Suddenly he could see Felix stirring in his sleep and then slowly opening his sleepy eyes.

“Land? Ugh, it’s too bright…,” he mumbled confused.

Orlando was silent. He was embarrassed that he had woken Felix up.

“Go back to sleep, Land … Or if you want you can squeeze in here as well …?,” Felix offered, blinking at Orlando.

The older boy inhaled deeply and then collected all his courage and walked towards the bed.

Felix kept his promise and gently pushed the still sleeping Hugo closer to the wall so that Orlando could fit in the bed as well.

When Orlando was finally snuggled up to Felix, the boy in the middle had to wrap one arm around Orlando to prevent him from falling out of the bed.

The warmth that surrounded Orlando immediately made him feel like he was floating.

He turned around in Felix’s embrace so that the boys lied head on next to each other.

Orlando hummed in happiness and buried his nose in Felix’s curls.

“I wish you precious dreams …,” Felix whispered into Orlando’s ear but the boy had already fallen asleep again.

But Felix knew that there was no hurry in their friendship, they would make time work for them and Orlando would gain heart and courage to become a self-confident young man one day.


	10. Chapter 9

That night in Felix’s bed, pressed close to the younger boy, Orlando dreamt again. He was as secret agent, always travelling on trains. He was on a deadly mission to save the mama lion at the zoo. It was his task to travel around the whole world to find the right potion. When he finally had found it and cured the mama lion, her children were so happy that they jumped at Orlando and cuddled him. One young lion was especially fond of jumping at Orlando and buried him under him to lick Orlando’s face.  
The little lion felt quite heavy and Orlando had trouble breathing properly as the lion squashed his ribs.  
Gasping for air he woke up but the weight on his chest wouldn’t disappear.  
"Oopsie …," Felix whispered next to him.  
Orlando tried to open his eyes but he was still too tired to see anything properly. When he finally managed to blink a few times, he could see Felix lying next to him with a sheepish grin on his face.  
"Oh Hugo, you woke him up!,” Felix mumbled sternly.  
Hugo? Orlando had still problems comprehending the whole situation. He was in Felix’s bed because they had come back late from the zoo. But what was it with the heavy weight on his body? It was warm, soft and quite comfortable but also a little bit too heavy.  
Orlando turned his head a bit to see what was lying on his chest and body. His eyes met a blue pair of eyes that was innocently beaming at him.  
In that moment Orlando realised that it was Hugo lying on top of him! But why?  
He blinked a few times in confusion. Felix chuckled next to him.  
"Oh look how cute he is! He’s even cuter than when he was asleep! Eeek. Like a baby animal!,” Felix cooed.  
Ok, so they had been awake for a while to see Orlando sleep and wake up. But that still didn’t explain why Hugo was still lying on top of him!  
Hugo started to shift on top of Orlando trying to roll himself over Orlando and out of the bed.  
Finally Felix caught Orlando’s confused stare.  
"Hugo woke up because he had to pee. And as he was lying next to the wall, he couldn’t get out of the bed. But I told him not to wake you, so he tried to roll himself over you without waking you up. And that’s what he’s doing right now. No dangerous cuddle attack or anything, no worries. Even though that could have happened, too,” Felix explained to his friend.  
Orlando nodded. That made sense.  
Hugo grinned his weird grin at Orlando again and with one final push he rolled himself off Orlando, who had kind of grown used to the warm weight on him. Now he was cold.  
"Feeeelix?,” he asked with big puppy eyes and Felix knew instantly what his friend wanted. He wrapped his arms about the little boy and snuggled close to him. When this wasn’t enough for Orlando, he wrapped his leg over Orlando’s and almost burried the older boy under him.  
Yes, this was more to Orlando’s liking. They stayed like this for two minutes until Hugo returned from the bathroom and looked at the cuddling two with a hint of jealousy in his eyes.  
"Pffft …," he said and went over to Will’s bed to climb in there with the youngest White brother. Will was still fast asleep and didn’t even notice when Hugo joined him in bed. After all their last evening had been quite exhausting for the little boy.  
Hugo quickly noticed that there wasn’t that much to do with Will just yet and let go of his younger brother again. He returned to Felix’s bed and motioned the snuggling pair to shift closer and make space for him.  
Felix granted his brother his wish and rolled on his back, simultaneously pulling the little featherweight Orlando top of himself. Orlando was in no position to complain. Although it was a little bit weird to hear Felix’s heart beating and feel his chest rising and falling under him.  
Orlando had never been close with any of his past friends or brothers and wasn’t used to this kind of bedroom cuddle times. He felt like he was supposed to feel weirded out but instead he just felt just a warm feeling of comfort and familiarity that he experienced so often around the White brothers.  
Hugo jumped into the bed and the mattress squeaked. It made Orlando’s body bounce on Felix’s chest.  
But Hugo was still not satisfied with his position and the fact that Orlando was kind of parting him from his brother. He pulled at Orlando’s sleeve.  
Felix knew what Hugo had in mind and let Orlando roll between them to wrap his arm around the two boys. Now Orlando was squeezed in between the brothers.  
Hugo put an arm around Felix, too, and they protected Orlando like their little baby. Hugo’s face was very close to Orlando’s and the older boy could smell the toothpaste that Hugo had just used.  
Why had he brushed his teeth already? They hadn’t even had breakfast yet!  
The thought of breakfast made Orlando cringe. He didn’t want to leave the bed. He wanted to stay in here forever. Maybe Will could join them, too. After all he was still a little baby boy and Orlando would feel bad for stealing his brothers.  
But leaving the warm embrace of Felix and Hugo for an awkward breakfast with Mr. and Mrs. White? Ugh. And he had to wear the same clothes he had worn yesterday. And after breakfast he would have to go home and explain to his mum why they were late and she was probably mad that he had stayed at Felix’s.  
But wasn’t that what all boys of his age did? Having sleepovers with their friends?  
Maybe he could stay at the White house for the whole day? But then he remembered that his mother had wanted to plan his birthday with him. It was next week already.  
Orlando wasn’t particularly fond of his birthdays. They just reminded him of how immature he was for his age and everyone was paying unneccesarily much attention to him what made him even more awkward.  
"What’s up, sugarplum?,” Felix asked when he saw Orlando’s sad face.  
"Ugh, it’s my birthday next Friday…"  
"But isn’t that a good thing? I love birthday parties!,” Felix exclaimed a little bit too loudly for the fact that Will was still asleep and Hugo had started to drift off again.  
"Meh, my birthday parties are always stupid. Mum takes a lot of pictures and there are always just relatives I don’t know and …," Orlando started talking about his pathetic life. Why was Felix still putting up with him?  
"Oh no! Birthdays have to be awesome! Can I help you plan your party? I always help my mum planning Hu’s and Will’s parties! Last year I baked a big cake all by myself for Hugo!,” Felix stated proudly.  
Orlando wasn’t surprised. After all Felix could cook, too, and always lovingly took care of his brothers as if they were his most precious thing in the whole world.  
"Oh. If you want to …," Orlando said shyly, being overwhelmed by Felix’s honest love for him. Again.  
"Of course I want to! This party is going to be amazing! Ok, who do you want to invite, Lando?,” Felix beamed at Orlando.  
Immediately Orlando knew it was a bad idea letting Felix plan his birthday. What should he tell him now? He didn’t have any other friends apart from Felix.  
"You…?,” he stated sheepishly.  
"That’s lovely! Who else?,” Felix wanted to know.  
"Uhm… Hugo? And Will?,” he tried.  
"Yes, of course they have to come! This is going to be so much fun! Will can play you a birthday song on his xylophone! And Hugo can sing something!"  
Hugo grunted in his sleep next to them. The friends chuckled. He looked really funny with his hair all tousled and curly.  
Suddenly Orlando remembered something. Or more like someone…  
"Oh and Mary. I have to invite Mary," he simply said and got a confused look by Felix.  
"Mary? Who is this girl?," he asked. Was there a hint of jealousy in his voice?  
"Sorry, I never mentioned her before … She’s just this girl. Well, my mum is friends with her mum and we’ve been hanging out like since forever. I don’t like her anymore though. She wants to act all woman-ly and grown-up now. She doesn’t want to play with my toys anymore. And she always giggles. Especially when Matt is home. It’s sooo annoying!"  
"Then we don’t invite her?"  
"No, I have to invite her, my mum says so."  
"Hm, okay then we will invite the girl," Felix said girl like the enemy.  
It made Orlando grin.

The boys continued their party plotting in the cosy bed and suddenly Orlando couldn’t wait for his birthday anymore. Felix had so many good ideas!  
The best was probably that he wanted to talk to Orlando’s mum about giving him a bike for his birthday. Because that would be the most amazing gift ever!  
While Felix and Orlando were deep in their conversation, no one noticed how Will woke up and crept over to their bed. With a loud scream he jumped on the sleeping Hugo and started to tickle him mercilessly.  
Soon the four boys were involved in a big pillow fight. Orlando almost forgot how to breathe from laughing so hard. This was the most fun he ever had!   
When they finally calmed down again and looked at each other, panting, Orlando’s stomach decided it was a good time to make itself noticed and grumbled.  
"Breakfast anyone?,” Felix asked and everyone cheered.  
And Orlando wasn’t nervous to sit at the same table with the White parents anymore. He was just happy that he had these three amazing friends in his life. Their parents really couldn’t be that bad if they had raised three sons like this!


	11. Chapter 10

Orlando continued to hang out with the White brothers for the rest of the week.

On Tuesday Felix even visited him at his house for the first time. Hugo had promised to look after Will. Orlando was glad that Felix had been so thoughtful to not bring his little brothers with him for once as he was already nervous enough about Felix not liking his home or finding his room childish. After all Orlando had no inspirational Bob Dylan quote written on his wall or cool toys.

And then there had been another thought nagging him: What if Matt was at home and Felix would suddenly remember why he had been friends with Matt and not Orlando in the first place and then they would listen to angry punk music together and Felix would stop hanging out with him?!

But when Felix showed up on his doorstep on Tuesday with the widest grin on his face and embraced Orlando tightly he knew that his worries had been stupid.

His heart stuttered when Felix ruffled Orlando’s hair and said in an honest voice, “As much as I love my brothers I’m really glad that today I’ll have you all for myself for once!”

The older boy didn’t know what to reply so he ruffled Felix’s hair, too.

“Your hair has gotten too long!,” he said jokingly. Felix threw his hands up in fake horror.

“Oh no! Do you really think so? What am I going to do now? Lando doesn’t think I’m pretty anymore!”

Of course Orlando didn’t understand that Felix was only joking.

“Uhm, I could cut it a bit? I used to cut a lot of hair when I was younger. With uhm, Mary. Well she wanted to be a hairdresser and I just went with it. It is a form of creativity after all!,” Orlando tried to explain himself.

Felix looked at him for a few seconds.

“Okay, let’s do this the next days! Maybe Hugo and Will need a haircut, too? I’ll talk to Mum! Now show me that room of yours and your crayons collection that you’re always talking about!”

The boys had a lot of fun together and Orlando was really sad when Felix had to leave after they had had dinner with the whole Weeks family. Felix and Matt acted amicably but Orlando had no reasons to worry as Felix kept playing footsie with him under the table.

He accompanied Felix to the bus station even though it was already dark outside. In Felix’s company Orlando totally forgot about his fear of the dark.

When the boys noticed the bus arriving, Felix took a step forward and Orlando immediately began to shiver at the lack of Felix’s body presence. And Felix wouldn’t be Felix if he didn’t turn around to hug Orlando tightly. While this wasn’t new to the older boy anymore the unexpected feeling of soft lips on his cheek certainly was. Orlando squeaked and Felix laughed.

“Goodnight, goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight!,” he whispered and turned around to jump into the waiting bus.

Five minutes had passed and Orlando still stood at the bus station, carefully touching his cheek with his right hand. He didn’t know what to feel about the kiss (it was only a kiss on the cheek, but it was still a kiss for Orlando). Orlando had seen Felix pressing his lips on his brothers’ hair, foreheads and temples before but that didn’t make it any less meaningful. Orlando really didn’t know what to do now and that was a problem he definitely needed to resolve. And then maybe kiss Felix on the cheek, too.

So on Wednesday Orlando went over to the Whites’ again and was greeted by a lovely feeling of familiarity when Felix and his little brothers picked him up from the bus station. This time there were no kisses.

They quickly went into the bathroom because Felix had assured him that his mother was alright with Orlando cutting her sons’ hair as long as he wouldn’t shave it all off. Just like everyone else she loved their long and messy hair.

Felix was first because Hugo and especially Will were still a little bit sceptical when it came to Orlando’s abilities and wanted to check out Felix’s results first. They sat on the edge of the bathtub while Felix said backwards on the toilet lid as if it was a motor-bike.

But before they even got to the hair-cutting part they had to face the first obstacle. Orlando insisted on having to comb Felix’s hair before he could cut it. This turned into a slight problem as Felix had been very lazy when it came to combing his own hair (he loved combing Hugo’s or Will’s though) and now it was full of knots that made it impossible for Orlando to get the hairbrush through it.

And as much as Felix tried to suppress his hisses of pain Orlando always felt like he was hurting his friend in a terrible way.

“Ugh, Fe, your hair is all tangled up. We need some conditioner hair spray!,” said Orlando knowingly but only earned confused glances by the brothers.

“What’s that?!,” Felix asked.

“Conditioner? Well it’s a hair product and it makes your hair really soft, duh!,” said Orlando. He felt a wave of pride rushing through him. He knew something the White brothers didn’t. Even if it was only about hair products.

“C’mon, your mum must have some!,” mumbled the oldest one and rumbled through the cupboards until he found what he was looking for. He generously sprayed something into Felix’s messy curls and attempted to comb them again. This time he had less trouble.

Orlando was smiling fondly and brushed Felix’s hair longer than necessary. He didn’t notice Felix’s

pout.

“God, Lands, would you please stop playing with my stupid hair?!,” Felix suddenly said, angrier than he hat intended to do. Normally Orlando would immediately let go of Felix’s hair and run out of the room but right now he was having too much fun stroking Felix’s hair and massaging his scalp.

“Why? I love your hair! It’s so fluffy and curly! It feels really good in my hands…,” he started to rave.

“Ugh no, I hate my hair! I hate the curls! It never does what I want,” Felix said dramatically and Orlando gaped.

“What? I love your hair, Fe! I could ruffle it all day! It’s so lively! Is that even a word? It has its own will, just like you!,” Orlando went on gushing over Felix’s hair.

Suddenly Hugo and Will started giggling. Orlando looked at the younger brothers in surprise as he had almost forgotten about their presence. Fe joined their laughter and Orlando looked at them expectationally. Did he say something stupid?

“You said it has its own will!,” Felix enlightened him finally, “like Will. Will. Got it?”

Orlando just nodded not fully understanding why this was so funny while Hugo and Will were laughing so hard that Hugo had fallen backwards into the empty bathtub.

“Anyway, I really like your hair!,” he said one last time and begrudgingly cut Felix’s hair.

“Nah Lando, your hair is way nicer!,” Felix argued.

“What? My hair is sooo boring! And my mum always makes me wear that stupid bowl cut!,” he exclaimed with shock. How could someone with perfect hair like Felix say something like this?!

“Your bowl cut is really cute! Trust me. It emphasises your cute elfin ears!,” Felix cooed and Orlando shrieked at the same time.

“Elfin ears?! I have elfin ears!? I don’t have elfin ears! That’s just my silly hair! It makes me look like a baby!”

“Oh Lando, shut up, dear! Your ears are really cute! And your hair is nice, too. It’s so… dark,” Felix tried to sound convincing. It didn’t work on Orlando.

“No my hair is boring! It’s so flat and lifeless, no matter what product I use…,” Orlando started to sulk.

“It’s not, Land, really! It brings out your big brown eyes! It makes you look like a puppy!,” Felix tried again.

“A puppy?! You saying I look like a puppy with elfin ears?,” Orlando started to bicker again.

“Oh shut up Lands, you’re gorgeous!,” Felix scolded back. He felt uneasy. He tried to pay Orlando compliments but the older boy always understood him wrong. Felix had never felt misunderstood or rejected because someone didn’t appreciate his compliments. The unfamiliarity made him feel a discomfiture he hadn’t experienced before.

They shot each other mean glances.

Hugo and Will started giggling again and this time it was Will who fell into the bathtub.

“What is it?!,” Felix and Orlando said simultaneously in the exact same annoyed voice that made the brothers giggle even harder.

“You two sound like a married couple! You should be growing old together!,” explained Hugo.

“You bicker exactly like Gramps and Nana!,” added Will still lying in the bathtub.

“We are not!,” exclaimed Orlando just in the same second as Felix said “You’re right!”. Again Hugo and Will burst into laughter and Hugo almost fell backwards in the bathtub (on top of Will), too.

“You are, you are! That’s so lovely! Now just kiss and resolve already!,” Hugo said.

Orlando panicked for a second. Had Felix told his younger brothers about their kiss?! But why would he? It was only a kiss on the cheek and he did that to them all the time … Orlando’s train of thought was interrupted by Felix jumping up from the toilet lid and sloppily kissing him on the cheek. The oldest boy could practically feel his face blush. Felix grinned sheepishly at him but got the situation under control before it could get to awkward.

“Lando-sweetheart, would you mind continuing cutting my hair with your fine skills?,” Felix asked overly politely and fluttered his eyelashes at Orlando.

This was enough for Orlando to calm down and get back to business.

“Alright. But I think it’s better if we wash your hair first. It’s easier to do it painless when it’s a bit wet,” he instructed Felix, who immediately stripped off his shirt and attempted to take off his trousers, too, before Orlando stopped him hastily.

“Stop, Fe! You don’t have to take a shower. Just sit in front of the bathtub and lean your head over it. I will wash your hair like a real hairdresser! Will, Hu, shoo! I need more space!”

Immediately the younger ones got up and Hugo sat on the toilet lid, where Felix previously had sat. Will placed himself on Hugo’s lap and observed Orlando’s professionalism with big eyes.

Orlando was completely in his element again.

He gently shampooed Felix hair longer than necessary until the little bathroom was filled with sweet smells.

Then Orlando continued to diligently cut Felix’s wet hair. He dried it afterwards and even put some softening product, that he had stolen (borrowed!) from Mrs White into it. When he was content with his work he allowed Felix to look into the mirror.

“Oh my god! It looks brilliant, Land! You did a splendid job!,” Felix exclaimed and couldn’t stop looking at himself in the mirror. Hugo and Will nodded approvingly and Orlando blushed at the praise.

“Now we both have nice hair, Lando!,” Felix said happily and ruffled the older boy’s hair. Immediately Orlando’s smile turned into a frown.

“Oh come on! Not again! We can say, we both have nice hair! That’s a compromise, sweetheart!,” Felix insisted stubbornly and kissed Orlando on the cheek. Again.

In the end Orlando nodded in agreement. He couldn’t really argue when Felix was so happy with his new haircut. And especially not when Felix kept glancing at the mirror even when Orlando was cutting Hugo’s and Will’s hair. They both had more silky, soft hair and not Felix’s rebellious curls, which made it easier for Orlando to cut it.

When the boys went back into their room Orlando noticed that the bed linen was still the same as when he had slept in Felix’s bed. The memory of that night made him smile.

Orlando was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice how Felix crept up beside him and swept him off his feet to carry the older, but smaller boy bridal style into his bed.

Felix threw Orlando onto the day old sheets and the latter started to giggle like a girl when Felix started to tickle him. How embarrassing.

Hugo and Will only shot each other a knowing look. They knew what mating-dance rituals looked like when they watched the Discovery Channel. Their brother’s and Orlando’s playful fighting looked quite similar.


	12. Chapter 11

On Friday Felix took his brothers and Orlando swimming.

He claimed that they were going to the Latchmere Leisure Centre all the time but the fact that Hugo and Will were buzzing with excitement gave his lie away.

Orlando’s parents were hesitant to let him go at first since they knew that their youngest son normally avoided going swimming like the plague. But Felix only had to smile once at Mrs. Weeks and she willingly let her youngest son go. The new relationship of Orlando and Felix made her bitter-sweet-happy. On the one hand she loved seeing her son as happy and active as he had become with Felix and his brothers but on the other hand she feared that the sensible and shy boy would grow too dependent on his younger friend. But for now she let them go with the promise that this time they would actually make it back before it got dark outside.  
Before Felix and his brothers came to pick him up Orlando was desperately searching for his swim trunks. He hadn’t worn them for ages and now he just couldn’t find them! This was so typical for his life! Finally he had gotten over his fear of hanging out with friends and now it were were those stupid little things that absolutely ruined his life.  
Orlando sat in the corner of his room and cried. He didn’t want to call Felix and cancel their date.  
Suddenly the door flew open but Orlando couldn’t make out who was standing in the door frame because he had suddenly turned blind.  
Orlando sighed. This was his punishment for being stupid. He couldn’t see anymore.  
'Don't just sit there, you little baby! You can wear my old pair of trunks!,' Matt's voice shouted over the loud angry punk music coming from his room. Confused, Orlando took the swim trunks off his face. He hadn’t turned blind, Matt had just thrown the piece of clothing at him!  
'Thanks…,' Orlando mumbled to himself because Matt had already run back to his room, of course not without unnecessarily angrily banging the door shut.  
Orlando investigated the pair of black swimming trunks. After all they could be a prank of his older brother’s. But they seemed fine. There was a little skull patch sewed on it from back when their mother had thought that Matts’s angry punk rock phase was kinda cute.  
He shoved the trunks in his little koala rucksack together with his towel, shower gel and verruca socks. He didn’t really like the latter but his mum insisted on him wearing them in a public swimming pool.

The three brothers picked Orlando up and together they took the bus to the Latchmere Leisure Centre. At first Hugo and Will had gotten into an argument because they both wanted to sit next to Orlando but as usual Felix resolved the argument by simply stating that he was sitting next to Orlando. The older boy blushed at the authority and determination of his friend.

Hugo and Will were only moping for a short time before they started singing a song about the swimming pool. Singing on public transport was apparently one of their favourite hobbies.

'Come on, Lando, sing with us, it's really easy! It's a song about the stupid pool attendant!,' Will said enthusiastically and smiled so brightly that Orlando couldn't say no to the youngest.  
'Swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, just stay in your lanes!,' Hugo and Will started to sing and even Felix hummed along. Orlando felt really uneasy about his singing voice but when he joined the brothers, quietly and shy at first, they were all beaming at him. The oldest boy got braver with every time and they sang louder and louder. The four kids singing on the bus didn't bother the other passengers. It was 10 am on a Friday and the only people on the bus were old folks or other parents with their children. Some of them even joined their little chorus.  
But soon they got out of breath and panted heavily but still smiling at each other.  
'Orlando, I didn't know that you have such a beautiful singing voice!,' Felix said in admiration for the oldest boy, who immediately blushed for what was like the tenth time today.  
'Ugh, I hate my singing voice! It sounds so stupid. I sound like a baby! That's why I quit the church choir…,' Orlando complained but only got shocked expressions as an answer.  
'What? You got the voice of an angel! That's why you belong in the church choir!,' Will exclaimed.  
'Uhm… I don't really like church…,' Orlando admitted.  
'Yeah, me too', said Hugo and Will pouted.  
'Will loves singing though. He's got the best voice of us!,' added Hugo and patted his little brother's hair. Orlando giggled at the cuteness of the little boy. Will was such a sweetheart!  
Felix carefully observed the three people he loved the most. He loved how Orlando was slowly opening up to other people and getting more comfortable with himself. And of course the fact that he got on perfectly with Felix’s younger brothers. Orlando didn’t have younger brothers but seemed to adore Will and Hugo. It made Felix’s heart melt to see how nicely they got on.  
After a 30 minute bus ride they finally arrived at the Latchmere Leisure Centre and Felix paid for their entry.  
Orlando felt a familiar wave of nervousness and shame rushing through him when he noticed that there were only communal changing rooms, which meant that he had to change into his swim trunks while everyone was watching him! All the old men and the young, sporty men and the other kids! He panicked for a second. Why hadn’t he changed at home? Okay, that would have been embarrassing, too.  
Orlando was frozen to the spot so he didn’t notice how Felix approached him until he gently took him aside.  
'I can stand in front of you if you want?', he offered his shy friend. Orlando quickly nodded. From the side he could see Will and Hugo carelessly stripping off their clothes and throwing them around the room. To be fair, there were only two other men in the changing room.  
But the White brothers had grown up with taking baths together, while Orlando had grown up in a very Christian family were unnecessarily much nudity was an issue.  
So the oldest boy gladly accepted Felix’s offer and with his friend as a wall he quickly took off his clothes and changed into his swimming trunks.  
'Wow, that was quick. I kinda blinked and didn't see anything! I couldn't have peeked even if I wanted!,' Felix said in wonder. Orlando's cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. This was not a compliment a boy of his age wanted to hear.  
'Oi mate, your trunks are brilliant! Will, Hu, look at the skull on Orlando's swimming trunks!,' Felix exclaimed to ease the tension. Immediately Hugo and Will dropped everything and rushed to their oldest brother's side. With the three brothers staring at his crotch Orlando felt slightly uneasy. He cleared his throat awkwardly until the brothers looked up.  
'I'm so jealous, Land! I wanna have a cool pair like yours! But instead I have to wear Hugo's old ones…,' Will said with a hint of jealousy in his voice. Orlando kept his mouth shut and didn't tell them that he had inherited his trunks from his older brother, too. He felt unusually confident about his looks.  
But sod all changed when they came out of the changing room. All Orlando could see where bodies that were taller, prettier, more muscular, skinnier than him. All of his confidence vanished. But when Felix stood behind him and casually rested his hand on Orlando’s naked shoulder he relaxed again.  
'We're gonna have so much fun, Lands!'  
Orlando couldn’t reply because he was overwhelmed by the impressions around him. Loads of young children and older people were swimming or running around, the air was filled with the typical scent of chlorine and everyone was screaming. Or at least it seemed so to Orlando.  
That’s probably why he didn’t notice the man right in front of him and bumped straight into the older man, who was wearing a bath robe.  
'Ahhh, my favourite boy with his brothers, whose names I can never be arsed to learn! Haven't seen you for a while!', said the man in an authoritarian voice.  
'That's the mean pool attendant, the one we wrote a song about! He always lectures us about the rules…,' Will whispered into Orlando's ear.  
'Boys, don't forget: No bombing and no heavy petting! And why aren't you wearing your verruca socks? But most importantly: Just stay in your lanes. Are we understood, young fellas?,' the attendant said and the four boys nodded in unison.  
Pool supervisor was drawn to a couple that had entered the swimming area with their street shoes still on. He quickly rushed over to them shouting in a singing voice ‘Madames and Monsieurs, please return to your cubicles!’ in a really bad French accent.  
Felix shook his head.  
'I don't like him. But you wanna know what's the best, Lando?,' he asked the older boy beaming with excitement.  
'Latchmere's got a wave machine!,' the three brothers shouted together.  
Orlando’s mouth fell open. A wave machine? How awesome was that?

The four boys got into the water (of course without jumping even though Felix wanted to show off his impressive bombing skills) and started to play a game where they were a big fish family. Felix was daddy fish, Lando was mummy fish and Hugo and Will were their little fishy babies. Orlando didn’t really mind being the mum.  
He soon found out that Will had an unsatisfiable obsession with diving through spread legs and Hugo didn’t like to get water in his eyes.

“Lando, spread your legs further! It’s too tight!,” Will demanded before he descended again.

They had a lot of fun and when the speaker finally announced that the wave machine was being turned on now they quickly got into the other pool.  
Orlando, who had never seen a wave machine before, was so amazed at the waves suddenly appearing out of the blue.  
'Lando, my little pirate, come over here!,' Felix said and they found a nice spot where they could enjoy the waves that were neither to big nor to boring.  
After the wave machines had slowed down and finally stopped Hugo and Felix decided that they wanted to do some proper swimming now to exercise. Will and Orlando, who still had to catch their breath from their wavy adventure, declared that they would sit on the edge of the deep pool and watch them.  
So they watched the brothers swim lane after lane, never getting tired. Finally Orlando understood where their strong arms came from. While they watched Felix and Hugo they could also observe men in ridiculously tiny speedos that made them look like paedos. When Orlando told Will that, the youngest one giggled.  
But soon even Hugo and Felix got tired and they decided to go home after a quick snack.

When Orlando arrived at home he was so tired that he only quickly ate something and started an attempt to save today’s memories with his water colours. He soon noticed that he was too tired to hold his brush and gave up.  
In his state of delirium he was also way too tired to worry about his upcoming birthday.


	13. Chapter 12

Felix had kept kept his promise. Orlando’s birthday had been a very surprising and unusually joyful day indeed. It was a birthday Orlando would never forget and it would always be a wonder for him how Felix had managed to organise everything in just one short week (when they had spent all their time together!) without him noticing.  
It all started when he was woken up not by his family creeping in his room and singing a song for him (his mum very enthusiastically, his dad awkwardly and wrong and Matt only mumbling the lyrics because angry punks didn’t sing jolly birthday songs). Usually they would all awkwardly stand in his room until Matt made a remark about Orlando drooling in his sleep and their mum shushed him with the promise of Orlando’s birthday cake. His birthday was the only day in the year he could really sleep in because the longer he slept the less he had to stand the uncomfortable family situation.

This year it was different. Okay, his mum still crept into his room to wake him but this time Orlando was already awake (he was just too excited for Fe’s surprise) and secondly she didn’t sing. She just pressed the cold telephone against her son’s ear.  
The birthday boy shrieked when the cold material touched his skin but was quickly distracted by something else: it was Felix’s voice coming through the speaker! Orlando almost jumped out of his bed in excitement and surprise.  
'Good morning, birthday boy! I hope you slept well because you'll need all your energy today! And sorry we can't sing you a birthday song. Now. Will wants to see your face when you hear it. So you have to wait until later … And now Lando, prepare yourself for birthday present no. 1! Lie in your bed and close your eyes! Don't peek! Just pretend you're still sleeping, okay?'  
Then the line went dead. Orlando smiled to himself for a minute before he noticed that his mum was still in the room. He shot her a questioning glance. What did she know about his secret presents? But Mrs. Weeks only smiled fondly. ‘You heard what the boy said.’ Orlando had no other choice but lie back in his bed and close his eyes. When nothing happened he blinked and peeked through the room. ‘Pretend you’re sleeping, Lando!,’ his mum said again and this time he really pressed his eyes shut, anxiously awaiting what was about to happen. He snuggled into his pillows when he heard his mum leaving the room. But instead of hearing the door closing he heard muffled whispers. The temptation to open his eyes was big but he remembered what Felix and his mum had told him. He kept his eyes squeezed shut even when he heard the sound of multiple bare feet tapping over the floor. Then he heard a familiar voice cooing ‘Awww how cute’ and someone ruffling his bed sheets. Now he could definitely feel someone climbing into bed with him. Was that Matt? But Matt wouldn’t giggle like that…  
'Okay, you can open your eyes now!,' said a voice that was unmistakeably Felix's. Orlando's eyes flew open immediately and he found himself lying eye to eye with his best friend. And on top of Felix was lying Hugo with a night cap. 'Happy biiiiirthday!,' they shouted together and only then Orlando noticed that Will was standing next to the bed. The little boy made a brave jump and landed half on top of the birthday boy and half on Hugo. The four of them laughed loudly.  
'But … but … why … I mean … how do you know?,' Orlando stuttered. A cuddle session with the White bros? That had to be the best birthday present ever!  
'We wondered what you love the most and what would make you really happy. And then Hugo remembered that the happiest you ever looked was when we all cuddled in my bed after our zoo adventure! We thought this would be the best way to start your super awesome birthday party!,' the oldest brother explained.  
'But … how?,' Orlando asked stunned. He was almost crying tears of happiness at what Felix had said.  
'Oh, I talked to your mum and my mum drove us here so … let's just enjoy the cuddling!,' Felix said and threw an arm around Orlando. Hugo half lay on top of Felix, Will had snuggled against Orlando's chest and practically provided the birthday boy with a living warm blanket. Will was not only two years younger than Hugo, he was also much lighter and his weight didn't bother at all. Only Will's breath tickled on the sensitive skin of Orlando's collar bones whenever Will exhaled.  
Somehow the four boys managed to squeeze into Orlando’s bed and pull a blanket over all of them.  
Somehow they all managed to fall asleep again (except for Felix, who only pretended to sleep but was actually silently watching and protecting his loved ones just as he always did). Will and Hugo fell alseep pretty quickly. After all their morning had been quite exhausting for them. They had to get up really early to drive to Orlando’s house so it was no surprise that they went back to sleep so quickly.  
Orlando lay awake for a few minutes having silent eye contact with the oldest brother before he lost himself in the deep blue calmness that were Felix’s eyes and drifted back to sleep.  
He was woken up by Felix squirming in bed.  
'Ewww Hugo, you drooled on me! Eww!,' he said in a playful tone to let his brother know that he wasn't actually angry with him.  
Hugo, who knew that of course, just licked a streak over his older brother’s cheek and laughed loudly at Felix wiping away the saliva.  
'I just can help it that you're so sweet!,' Hugo said in a cheesy way. The other three boys had to giggle and Will laughed even louder because Orlando's stomach was shaking from laughter and since Will was still lying on it …  
'Speaking of sweet things, how about we finally get out of this lovely bed and eat the delicious birthday cake!'  
In no time the four boys had gotten out of bed and run into the living room. Orlando didn’t feel uncomfortable at all in his pyjamas because the brothers were wearing the funniest pjs as well.  
Before they could taste the birthday cake, Orlando found another birthday surprise waiting for him at the table.  
'Caaaaaas!,' he shouted and jumped into Casper's arms. He hadn't seen his oldest brother since he had come down to London for Christmas 8 months ago.  
'Hey LiLa! How is my favourite little birthday bro?,' the oldest Weeks son asked while he hugged Orlando tightly. Orlando playfully slapped him for the 'mean' comment. Casper had made a habit of calling him 'LiLa', which was short for 'LittleLando'.  
'Oi, I'm a big boy now!,' Orlando exclaimed. 'But what are you doing here, big bro? Shouldn't you be busy … being at university?'  
'Actually, yes I should. But a few days ago I got an urgent call by someone who told me to better get my arse down here or else he would sent his little brothers to get me. And since I've grown up with two little brothers and know what a terrible plague they can be, I booked myself a train and here I am! I really missed you, LiLa!,' Casper explained and Orlando got all warm and fuzzy inside because he never knew how much his oldest brother cared for him. 'Awww, I love you, Cas!,' he said and hugged him again.  
'Don't thank me, thank your little friend and his terrifying brothers!,' Cas laughed.  
Orlando looked at Felix, who smiled sheepishly.  
'When I thought about perfect presents I came to the conclusion that material things don't really matter to you and that the most important thing in your life is your family. That's why I got your whole family back together,' Felix explained to everyone. Orlando and Mrs. Weeks definitely had tears in their eyes now.  
'Hey what about me?,' Matt exclaimed. 'Don't you like me anymore? I thought about making you a mixtape of my angry punk music as you call it but then I decided that you should better have my old acoustic guitar. I can't even be arsed to learn the three chords of punkrock and you have such talented hands! You should learn to play it! You are definitely more worthy than me!,' Matt said and if Orlando wasn't crying before he now definitely was. He never knew his older brothers appreciated him so much.  
Casper and Matt embraced their little one, who was silently crying of happiness now. Mr. Weeks handed his wife a tissue to dry her tears and Felix did the same to Will. When everyone looked questioningly at the crying Will Felix explained:  
'He always has to cry when he sees other people cry …'  
Orlando escaped his brothers’ embrace and went over to hug Will.  
'Oh Lando, you are the coolest friend I have! You are my hero!,' Will said honestly and Orlando's heart melted from the cuteness and adoration of the young boy.  
'Awww Will, you are so cute! And you're a really cool lad, too!,' Orlando said awkwardly.  
'Really? I wrote you a song on my xixi! Can I play it to you?,' Will asked with big eyes.  
'No, we have to eat my cake first!,' Hugo objected stubbornly.  
'For breakfast???,' Orlando asked unbelievingly. His parents would never allow that!  
'Of course now! I made it all by myself by the way! With my secret ingredient!,' Hugo stated proudly. Orlando spontaneously hugged Hugo. Everyone was making him such perfect lovely presents. One better than the other.  
'Okay, let's have the breakfast cake then!,' said Mr Weeks, who needed to leave for work in a few.  
It got quite cosy around the dinner table, where usually only Orlando and his parents sat together, sometimes joined by Matt but only if he wasn’t too punk and rebellious for dinner at that moment. Now not only another Weeks brother had to find a seat but also three more or less little White brothers. In the end everyone managed to find a seat and enjoyed the delicious cake that Hugo had baked.  
'Lando, do you want to know my secret ingredient?,' Hugo asked later when Mrs. Weeks cleared the table with the help of Casper and Felix.  
'Oh yes, tell me!,' Orlando asked excitedly. A secret ingredient! How awesome was that!  
'It's love!,' announced Hugo. 'The secret ingredient is looooove!'  
'Wow! How did you get it in there though?,' Orlando wondered in amazement.  
'Can't tell you about that bit … but Felix helped me with it!,' Hugo smirked.

After breakfast Mr. and Mrs. White left for work and Casper went out to meet some old friends, promising that he’d be back for the proper party in the afternoon and only went out not to interrupt Orlando and the White boys. Matt handed Orlando his new acoustic guitar and attempted to teach his little brother some chords. But Orlando failed miserably and rather played just the top string. Matt then gave up and retreated to his room. He had spent a lot of time with his brother today already.  
Waiting for the parents to return and the other guests to arrive, the boys finally got dressed.


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER OF THIS STORY :( I started it 5 months ago and now I feel all emotional about it… But don’t be too sad I’m already plotting the sequel Orlando Powers. I would love to find some opinions on the story in our ask box ;) Thanks for sticking with me and the boys :)

The four boys brushed their teeth together. There was barely enough space for them in the tiny bathroom let alone in front of the mirror which meant they had to squeeze and huddle because of course everyone wanted to see himself in the mirror. Even Will even though he was too small to look into the mirror.  
“You wanna play a game, Lando?,” the youngest White asked with his mouth full of toothpaste and saliva.  
“Hmmhmm,” nodded the birthday boy. Will’s games were always so much fun and it was his birthday so he was allowed to have loads of fun!  
“Okay, Hugo made it up. You have to smear toothpaste on your lips and then look into the mirror. Then you have to close your eyes and think of someone you would like to kiss. And theeeeeen … you kiss the mirror. When you open your eyes there will be a toothpaste kiss on the mirror. Who made the prettiest one wins. Usually Hugo wins, he has talented lips!,” explained Will with a proud look on his little face.  
Kissing bathroom mirrors with toothpaste kisses? That wasn’t one of the games Orlando was used to play.  
“Come on, it’ll be fun! I promise!,” Will begged when he saw Orlando’s hesitation.  
“Could you maybe show me first?,” he asked and Will beamed.  
“Yes of course!,” the little one said and grabbed the toothpaste to spread it over his lips. When he was finished he smacked his white lips.  
“Look!”  
Without Will saying a word Hugo wrapped his strong arms (swimming!, Orlando remembered) around his little brother and lifted him up until his face was in front of the mirror. Will closed his eyes and pressed his lips against the mirror.  
“And who did you think of?,” Orlando demanded to know. This was the most important part of the game or so it seemed to him.  
“Fluffy! Granny’s dog!,” Will exclaimed and licked his white stained lips.  
“Ewww, you wanna kiss a dog?,” Hugo shrieked and Felix laughed.  
“Pfff shut up, our love is pure! Who do you wanna kiss then?,” pouted the youngest one.

 

“Okay, let’s all do this! Here’s the toothpaste, Land!,” Felix said and gave Orlando the toothpaste. The oldest boy shyly rubbed some of it on his lips and looked at the other brothers expectantly.  
“That’s not enough!,” Hugo said and Felix took the toothpaste out of Orlando’s hand. He squeezed some on his finger and spread it generously over the birthday boy’s lips. Orlando shivered at the feeling of Felix’s finger on his sensitive lips.  
“Okay, now you!,” said Felix and handed the toothpaste back to Orlando. Tentatively the older boy smeared some on Felix’s lips.  
Orlando had always loved to use his hands. To draw, to craft, to sew. But never in all his short life it had felt so good and right to do something with his hands. He must have caressed Felix’s lips longer than necessary because the other two brothers were staring impatiently at him.  
“Okay, who are you thinking of?,” Will wanted to know.  
“Alan Shearer,” Hugo said convinced. Felix smirked and Orlando didn’t know what he found weirder: Will wanting to kiss a dog or Hugo wanting to kiss an old footie player. It became even weirder when Felix said: “I wanna kiss Hugo.”  
Hugo grinned his sleazy smile at Felix and blew a kiss at him. Of course that ruined his toothpaste lipstick and it got spread all over his mouth.  
“Hugo! Look at the mess you made!,” said Felix and wetted his thumb to gently wipe away the toothpaste off Hugo’s cheeks.  
“And Lands, who are you thinking of?,” Hugo asked to distract from the glances Will was shooting him.  
Orlando looked into the mirror. He didn’t want to kiss anyone in particular. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to kiss anyone at all. He stared into the mirror as if it had the answer waiting for him. And indeed it had. Through the reflection he could see Felix smiling fondly at him. Orlando took a deep breath.  
“I want to kiss Felix,” he said and suddenly felt a lot better. Felix looked at him with honest surprise written on his face while Hugo and Will just nodded.  
“Yes, a lot of girls want to kiss him, too. But Felix never wants to kiss any of the stupid girls…”

“No, I don’t, that’s right. I don’t like girls who act all mature and grown-up when being a child is the best thing ever! Now let’s kiss! The mirror of course.”

 

So they all kissed the mirror and decided that Hugo had won again. Afterwards Felix had to clean the mirror while Hugo and Will tried to get the stereo in Orlando’s room going. But they only managed it when Matt came over and helped them.  
“Let’s play rockstars!,” Hugo and Will shouted. They almost ripped off their clothes until they were only in their boxers. Prancing half naked through the room they began to sing along to a song Orlando didn’t know. When Hugo spotted Mrs. Weeks’ hairbrush and used it as a microphone Felix just shrugged at the birthday boy and took his pyjamas off as well. Only clad in his boxershorts the oldest brother started playing a crazy guitar solo on his air guitar. Orlando was taken over by the contagious happiness around him and joined the madness by jumping up and down on his bed. If his parents were at home, they wouldn’t recognise their youngest son.  
Everyone got their turn at picking songs. Will chose the Spice Girls, Hugo chose “Sexuality” by Prince, Felix and Matt bonded over The Ghost of a Thousand (angry punk music!) and Orlando finally decided on Madonna. Suddenly - and luckily just in between of two songs - they heard the bell ring.  
“Oh fuck, it’s that late already?,” Felix cursed. “Lando, you have to wait here and I welcome the guests. And let Hugo and Will do with you whatever they want, okay? They know what to do!,” Felix instructed them and hurried out of the room. As he went downstairs Orlando could see that Felix hastily put on a leather jacket and a laced shirt. Then Hugo closed the door and locked them in the other room. Orlando couldn’t help but think that Felix looked very handsome in a leather jacket.

“Okay, now it’s time for your make-over!,” Will said and behind him Hugo appeared with a bunch of clothes and a little make-up bag.

Together the brothers prepared not only Orlando but also themselves for the Rock’n’Roll themed birthday party. They dressed in leather jackets, tight black clothes and sunglasses that made them look like proper rockstars. After Hugo finished their looks with some make-up and declared them ready they went downstairs where Felix and a not so happy-looking Mary were waiting for them. Orlando’s family and Mary’s mum were sitting in the living room and enjoyed the rest of Hugo’s birthday cake.

To get into the right mood for a Rock’n’Roll birthday party Will got out his little colourful xylophone and played the song he had written for Orlando. To everyone’s surprise it was quite catchy and not at all bad and wrong like you would expect a song written by an 8-year old. After the song had ended Orlando and Will were beaming with pride: Orlando because he had a friend who would compose such amazing songs for him and Will because he finally felt really accepted and not underestimated because he was by far the youngest.

So far Orlando had received Will’s, Hugo’s and Matt’s present.

Next up was the present his parents had waiting for him. They blindfolded Orlando’s eyes and led him to their little garden. When the birthday boy was finally allowed to take off the blindfold and look at his present he squealed with excitement.

Standing in front of him was a brand new red bicycle! Orlando hugged his parents tighter than he had ever before in his life. This was the best present ever! Now he was all grown-up and could learn how to ride a bike!

“Felix, will you teach me how to ride it?,” Orlando asked his best friend, who was smiling fondly at Orlando’s happiness.

“Of course I will! And then we can all make bicycle tours together! After all I picked this one out for you with your parents!,” Felix promised.

“Thanks, mum and dad! You’re the best!,” said Orlando again and even though he was consumed by his excitement he couldn’t miss the hint of sadness in his parents’ eyes. He decided not to think about it, after all he was a rockstar and not a superhero now who could save families. Superheroes were boring anyway. They only wore masks and lycra while Orlando was wearing a fancy leather jacket and sunglasses.

“Come on, time for your next surprise!,” said Felix and guided Orlando out of the garden. The oldest boy was a little bit sad to leave his new bicycle behind but he was sure that whatever Felix had in mind for him would be worth it. Followed by Will, Hugo and Mary they went into the near park.

Orlando hadn’t been there often because he preferred the calm and safe atmosphere of his room, where he could draw in peace, over the loud danger that were other children trying to make fun of him outside.

“Too bad you can’t ride your bike yet … We could be so much faster!,” said Hugo as he walked behind Felix and Orlando.

“Are we there yet?,” asked Will and suddenly Orlando was reminded of one of the first days he had ever spent with the White brothers. The day they had seen the dead squirrel on their way to the playground. Orlando shook his head, he didn’t want to think about this rather sad day on his super awesome birthday.

Even though it was a nice day in August there was a light breeze in the air. Orlando barely noticed this in his warm leather jacket but he saw Mary shivering in her little dress.

“Are you cold, Mary?,” he asked politely and felt bad for the girl.

“Yes, obviously, Orlando!,” snapped Mary through gritted teeth. Orlando stared at her in confusion. Why was she mad at him? It was his birthday! She wasn’t allowed to be mad at him! Girls were always so confusing!

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon!,” promised Felix, who had overheard their little conversation. “It will be epic!”

“Where are you leading us anyway? The bloody forest? I didn’t bring the right shoes for this! And I forgot my jacket. By the way Orlando, you look ridiculous in that big jacket! Why couldn’t you just have a normal party like everyone else? With loud music, many guests and alcohol?,” Mary whined in this girly way that totally annoyed Orlando. And her accusations made him quite uncomfortable, which didn’t go unnoticed by the oldest White.

He interrupted before Orlando could stutter something.

“Oh, we’re here! Orlando, let me present to you: The elephant castle, our rockstar home!,” said Felix proudly and pointed at something in the trees.

“A tree house?! You got me a treehouse for my birthday?,” exclaimed the birthday boy and threw himself into Felix’s arms. Felix laughed light-heartedly and happily. He wrapped his arms around Orlando and flung him through the air. Hugo and Will grinned at each other. Of course they had known about Felix’s surprise but it almost made little Will weep to see Orlando and his brother so happy. Their felicity was only disturbed by Mary nagging again.

“A tree house? How on earth am I supposed to get up there without ruining my dress?”

“I’ll help you!,” offered Orlando as he was really happy at the moment and didn’t want anyone to be sad.

Together with Felix he helped Mary to climb into the tree house. He was excited to follow her into their tree house.

“Mary, Mary! How is it up there?,” he asked excitedly and waited for Felix to help him up, too.

“Uhm … woody?,” said the girl, not really convinced.

When Orlando was finally inside the tree house he felt like he had entered a whole new world. He was about 2 metres up in the air and everything around him came from nature. Felix had even engraved “Felix + Orlando forever” and someone had added a “W + H foeva” next to it. Orlando smiled at the bad grammar.

He turned around and beamed at Mary.

“Isn’t this perfect? I’m so happy! This is the best birthday ever!”

He expected Mary to agree with him since she had been with him on all his other pathetic birthdays before. Instead she just shrugged and hugged herself.

“I’m just freezing my arse off. Arse, I said arse, so you know that I’m serious. Don’t tell my mum I used this word, okay? But it is effin cold!”

Orlando looked at her with disappointment in his deep brown eyes. How could she be so negative on his birthday?

He was distracted again when Felix and Hugo heaved Will into the tree house.

“And? Do you like it?,” the youngest boy said.

“I love it!,” answered Orlando enthusiastically.

Next one to join them was Hugo and when he fell into the tree house he must have had accidentally pushed Mary because she stumbled backwards and her dress ripped.

“Okay, this is enough! I tried to be nice but I hate this stupid tree house, I’m going home!,” she announced.

Will stuck out his tongue.

“Yes, get out Mary, you’re freezing!,” he shouted after her. Hugo looked out of the window and called after Felix.

“Get in brother, get in! We miss you!”

Felix was the strongest and most sporty one and had no problems to climb into their wooden castle on his own.

With four boys the tree house was quite crowded and they had to squeeze a little bit. Orlando hadn’t noticed that Felix had brought a little rucksack with him until Felix pulled a can of cacao and reminders of Hugo’s delicious cake out of it.

“Yay!”, he shouted and helped Felix set up the picknick tableware.

The four boys spent more than three hours in their Elephant Castle before it started to get dark outside.

“Let’s better hurry home before your parents get worried! I’m sure they and Casper want to spend some time with you, too. It’s not fair that I want you all for myself …”

Felix had said the last sentence so quietly that Orlando wasn’t sure if he had understood him correctly.

Felix was the first who dared to jump out of the tree house and landed safely on his feet.

“Okay, it’s easier than I thought! You can jump out now!,” he assured his brothers and Orlando.

Will was the next and because he weighed next to nothing Felix was able to catch him and gently put the youngest one down on his feet.

“Thanks, Fe!,” said Will in his sugary sweet voice and kissed his oldest brother on the cheek. Hugo jumped out of the tree house with no problem and landed gracefully on his feet. Felix nodded approvingly at him.

Orlando was the last one because he was afraid to jump. He knew he wasn’t as sporty as Hugo and too heavy for Felix to catch him.

Just when he had overcome his fears and was ready to jump, he stumbled and fell down. Luckily Felix was there to catch him. But even Felix wasn’t strong enough to support Orlando’s whole weight so the oldest boy landed on his knees.

Tears almost flooded his eyes at the sharp pain.

Immediately Felix, Hugo and Will were by his side. Carefully Felix pulled up his trousers’ leg to inspect possible injuries.

“Oh no Lando, you scraped your knee!,” he said.

“Oh, poor Lando!,” said Will sadly. “Can I kiss it better for you?”

“No, wait Will!,” said Felix and began rummaging through his little rucksack. He pulled out a plaster and gently put it on Orlando’s knee.

“Thank you, Fe!,” said Orlando and was amazed how well-prepared Felix always was. The pain in his knee had already started to wane. Hugo and Felix pulled Orlando up to his legs and together they walked home slowly.

During the whole way Will whined about the fact that he was too tiny and weak to help supporting Orlando’s weight while Felix and Hugo flanked the birthday boy’s side as human crutches.

They got home later than expected and found Orlando’s family waiting for him. The other guests including Mary and her mother had already left.

“Oh, Lando, my dear! There you are! We were already a bit worried. We have to tell you something…,” said his mother in an unfamiliar concerned voice.

The tone in his mother’s voice and the sadness in her eyes scared Orlando and he understood immediately that this was serious.

“We’re really sorry to tell you this, Orlando, but a few weeks ago your father got a new job in Belfast. It’s not a simple promotion that he can say no to. His employer already rented a big house for us and bought us two new cars. It’s of the highest importance that we move there. I know this is a big shock for you. We know how happy you are right now,” said Mrs. Weeks and glanced at Felix, who was gently stroking Orlando’s back. “That’s why we decided not to tell you before your birthday. We are lucky that we were able to convince the company to let us stay this long here. Everything is prepared for the move, we are moving out tomorrow. Another reason why Casper is here, he is going to help us with the packing.”

Orlando’s mother kept talking but the words didn’t reach Orlando’s ear anymore. Silently he sat there, staring past his mum at the wall only focusing on Felix’s hand that was still rubbing circles over Orlando’s back.

When Felix’s movement suddenly stopped Orlando jumped up and ran away to his bedroom. He didn’t have to turn around to know it were Felix’s footsteps following him.

The younger boy only just managed to catch Orlando before he broke together as the crying mess he was.

“Oh Lando, my love, don’t cry … Don’t make this any harder for me …,” Felix whispered into Orlando’s hair and tears were rolling down his face.

This was too much to bear, even for Felix, who always knew what to do.

Even pressed so close to Felix’s body Orlando was still throbbing from his ugly sobs. His tears wetted Felix’s shirt.

“Please Lando, you have to promise me one thing! Okay? Listen to me! Don’t get yourself in a hole where you can’t get out! Promise me that! I need to know that you will be alright. I’m so sorry, I failed. This time I can’t be there, I can’t be around!”

No matter how strong Felix tried to be the tears were still rolling down his face and his body was shivering with the fear of what would happen if he let go of Orlando now.

“But now we will never be able to go to the zoo by bike, we can never go back to Latchmere’s together or to our tree house!,” cried Orlando. But letting Felix know about the places they can’t go hurt even more.

“Shhh Lando, don’t be so sad! We can still …,” Felix tried to calm his best friend.

“No! I can’t stay, Felix, don’t you get it? We can’t go anywhere, because I will live so far away!,” the older boy sobbed and violently dug his fingernails into Felix’s back.

With his thumb Felix stroked over the soft skin of Orlando’s neck and stared deeply into the big brown eyes that were filled with tears. He wanted to savour every nanosecond with Orlando.

“I wish I could go in your place. And you could stay here with Hugo and Will. I’m so willing to pay the price that you pay to make you stay.”

But Orlando couldn’t stay and the next day the removal van rolled away with Orlando and without Felix.

At midnight Felix’s light sleep was interrupted by muffled sobs. It took him a moment to realise that they were his own and that he had cried in his sleep.

“Hugo?,” he asked into the darkness.

“Hmmm Fe?”

“Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

“In brother, get in …,” Hugo only mumbled, afraid that his voice would give away how much it hurt him to see his brother being in so much pain.

The first night in his new bed Orlando wasn’t able to fall asleep.

But when the clock struck midnight he felt a calming feeling of acquaintance and certitude coming over to him. Snuggling closer to his pillow and wishing it was Felix he finally found peaceful sleep. He was sure that one day they would meet again and he would have a chance to thank Felix for everything he had done for him.

Until then it was his quest to grow up by himself and make Felix proud of him.


End file.
